The Lost Princess
by waybackwhen
Summary: Miyuki Sato, after the murder of her family, finds herself- unwillingly at first- under the care of Tamaki Suoh. Miyuki must battle the grief in her heart with the help of the Host Club, who are unaware of her shinobi status, or that Miyuki's very presence puts them all in danger.
1. Tamaki's Lost Princess

**Disclaimer: **I don't now own Naruto or Ouran High School Host Club, but Miyuki is an OC character of my own design.

Running. That's one of the last things I remembered.

And tripping. Tripping and falling into grass that felt so soft against my face, yet still agitated my wounds.

Sleeping. That's all I could think to do at a time like that. So I did.

There's no telling how long I stayed there before someone found me.

"Hey..." The boy said, softly shaking my shoulder. I didn't stir; just shut my eyes tighter. "Hey, are you okay?" I opened my eyes a bit, but then the light made them hurt, so I closed them again, letting out a tiny moan of protest. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out here."

"I think a cold is the least of my worries..." I whispered, realizing the boy obviously wasn't going away. I pushed myself off the ground and slowly opened my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the minimal amount of light my veil of black hair allowed to reach them. "Where am I?"

"Right now?" The boy placed his hand on his chin, thinking. "Nowhere very special exactly. Just in the middle of some forest." He extended me his hand to help me up. After an obvious moment of hesitation, I took it. He pulled me to my feet, while questioning, "What's you name, my lost little princess?"

I gazed into his bright purple eyes and knew instantly that he was a boy who could make all the girls fawn over him with a simple glance and a flip of his golden blonde hair. Well, almost every girl. "My name...?" I suppose I spent a little longer thinking about that question than I should have, but it finally came to me. "My name is Miyuki Sato."

The boy unexpectedly took my hands in his. I winced in pain, but he was too lost in his own world to notice. "Well, my princess Miyuki, you have lovely blue eyes."

"You're hurting my arm... Please let me go." I said quietly- I wasn't a very assertive person- as I tried to pull away. He wasn't really listening to me.

"My name is Tamaki Suoh. Please, allow me to escort you back home-"

"I don't have a home anymore!" I snapped, pulling my hands free as a tear slipped down my cheek at the painful memory.

It appeared I'd finally broken through to him as the annoyingly care-free smile faded from his face. "I see..." A new, softer smile appeared in place of the previous one as he held his hand out for mine once more. "How would you like to come stay at my house, my lost princess?" I looked up at him, surprised by his offer. "After all, it's my responsibility as a member of the elite Ouran Host Club to make every girl happy!"

There was something about the determined look in his eyes that actually made me take his hand. "O-okay..."

After a moment of leading me behind him by my wrist, he released me, and we walked side by side past some of the biggest houses I've ever seen. It was becoming quickly clear that this kid was a rich as he thought he was beautiful.

"So, what is this 'elite Ouran Host Club' thing you're going on about?" I made no effort to show my interest in anything other than the houses that were so big they probably had their own zip codes. I was listening intently to his answer, though.

He put his hand to his chin again, seeming lost in thought. "Let's see here... Well, The Ouran Host Club is where the schools most attractive men with too much time on their hands entertain girls who also have too much time on their hands."

I gave him a terrifying glare from the side. "What exactly do you mean by 'entertain', Tamaki-Senpai?"

He gave a nervous laugh, holding up his hands between us as to keep me from striking. "N-no, it's nothing like that, Miyuki"

I let out a sigh and turned my gaze to the ground. God, even the side-walks in that place looked fancier than my entire house. "Whatever..."

So we continued to walk in silence. Tamaki kept constantly glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. Finally, I had to ask, "Why do you keep looking at me? I'm sorry I don't look like I belong in your rich, fabulous world, but that doesn't mean you need to-"

"How did you get all hurt like that...?" He cut off my little rant, getting to the heart of why he was glancing at me.

The bluntness with which he asked the question left me shocked for a moment, then I bit my lip to keep tears from welling up in my eyes. "It's... Kind of a long story..." I managed meekly, knowing that explanation would never satisfy the nosy prince. "Look, you don't have to help me. I'm sure I can manage on my own-"

"You mean leave a defenseless princess to wander the streets by herself?!" He exclaimed, horrified at the mere thought of it.

"Uh..." He was so shocked, he had stopped walking. So I stopped too, fully taking in the nosy, rich prince. He was about 5 inches taller than me with a slender frame, and wearing a uniform that no doubt belonged to Ouran Academy. His expression amused me. His eyes were wide, his hand to his mouth in a prolonged gasp. "Who exactly are you calling 'defenseless', pretty boy?"

Tamaki pulled his hand away from his mouth, looking slightly offended. "Pretty... Boy..." He repeated quietly.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't..." I reached out my hand to touch his shoulder.

A grin spread across his face. "I know exactly what's going on here."

I blinked at him, confused by the sudden shift in mood, as my arm fell back to my side, causing more pain than I had anticipated. "I don't think you do..."

"You're under the impression that I'm some snotty, high-class punk, aren't you?"

"I was wrong; you do understand."

He nodded in victory, placing his hand on his chin again. "I knew it."

"Look," I looked cautiously around, not liking arguing with the obnoxious prince out in the open like that, "I appreciate you trying to help me, but please don't find yourself under the impression that I'm some helpless little princess. For God's sake, I'm not one of your stupid charity cases."

"I'm sorry, Princess Miyuki." He started walking again, pulling out a black cell phone as he did. "Shall I just call you an ambulance and allow you to take care of yourself?"

"No, no." I protested urgently grabbing his arm to pull the phone away from the finger about to dial the number. "My injuries really aren't too bad. I actually got out lucky. I don't think I need to go to a hospital."

Tamaki nodded, taking a moment's pause before turning and giving me a smug smile. "So you do need my help after all."

I sighed with a slight touch of impatience. "Yes, Tamaki-senpai, I need your help." Suddenly, I was very unhappy at having to ask for his help. I started talking before even realizing what I was saying, but I had to tell someone. "I need your help because my family is dead. Someone killed them all." Tears started down my face as I revealed the reason for my loneliness to a total stranger. "My older brother, my younger brother, my mom and dad. They're all gone. And the only reason I'm still alive is because my older brother gave his life to protect me. He's a hero, Tamaki," I started raising my voice, "he's a hero, and someone else needs to know besides me!"

"Well..." He said, after a long pause in which we both refused to meet each others eyes, "now I know. And I'm going to help you no matter what."


	2. The Silver Key

"So this is the girl the boss told us about?" The two auburn-haired, golden brown-eyed twin said at the same time, simultaneously bending down to eye level with me to examine me closer.

I backed away from them, and into a boy with black hair and glasses who I didn't realize was behind me. "I think you two are scaring her." He said unconcerned, closing a black book he'd been writing in and pushing his glasses up on his nose.

I pulled away from him as well as a small voice from behind me asked, "Do you want to share some cake with me, Miyu-chan?" I turned to face the blonde, brown-eyed boy and his quiet, onyx-eyed friend who was much taller than him.

"N- no thank you..." I managed, backing away from them, too.

"I must say," the girl with the brown hair and eyes said from the couch where she sat and watched the whole scene, "it's kind of nice to have someone for them to dote over besides me."

"What's going on in here?" Tamaki asked, re-entering the room.

"Senpai, who are these people?" I asked, running and hiding behind him; not exactly giving off the impression of the same self-assured girl I had said I was on our way to his house.

He turned to face me with his most comforting smile, and, touching my cut-up cheek softly, said, "There's no need to be afraid, my princess. These are our friends." He gestured broadly to the group. "I called them here to help you out."

"Help... me?"

He motioned the boy with the glasses closer. "This here is my best friend, and vice-president of the Host Club, Kyoya Ohtori." The boy gave a bow and a soft smile. "He's brought a first-aid kit so that we can get you all fixed up."

"Please, come with me, Miyuki." He waved a hand over his shoulder for me to follow him. He had me sit down in an elegant love seat, and placed the kit on a table next to me. While he bandaged my wounds, he told me about his father's company and his brothers' line of work, which accounted for his medical prowess.

"Thank you, Kyoya-senpai." I gave a slight bow from the seat.

Tamaki stepped forward, holding his hand out for mine. "Come with me, princess, and we'll get you into a nice warm shower so you can get all that blood out of your hair." How someone like him could say something like that so calmly was a mystery to me. Nevertheless, I obeyed.

He led me to a door down the hall- making sure everyone else (and by everyone else, I mean those mischievous twins) stayed put.

"Will this bathroom be big enough?" He asked, leaning against the frame of the door.

"Is it big enough?" I repeated in shock, not hiding it as I turned back to look at him. "Tamaki-senpai, I'm pretty sure this bathroom is bigger than my room back home." Would I ever get used to the high-class word these kids lived in? My guess was no.

"Alrighty then," He grabbed the fancy gold door knob, "take your time, and come down when you're done. We'll find you some wonderful clothes fit for a princess like you to wear." Before I could say a word in response, he closed the door, and I heard his footsteps walk away.

XxXxXx

I don't think I'd ever been more happy to be clean in my entire life. I combed my fingers through my hair as I looked at myself in the mirror, not sure why I was surprised by the fact that the bandages were water proof.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "These people are going to drive me crazy..."

Without taking my eyes off of my reflection, I placed my hand over the two most important things in the world to me at the time: My dog tags, and silver key necklace.

"_Isami-Niisan, what's going on?!"_

"_Take this key, Miyuki. Take it an run away. Don't look back, Miyuki, just keep running."_

"_Not without you! Aren't you scared?"_

"_Courage is having the strength to do what's right even when you're afraid; even if it hurts. Take this key and remember that, from this day on, you'll never be alone. As long as it's close to your heart, I will be, too."_

My trembling hand clenched the key tightly.

A soft knock at the door jolted me from my thoughts. "Hey, Tamaki-senpai sent me to check on you." It was that girl. I recognized her voice. "Are you alright? Have you gotten lost in there? Send up a flare, okay?"

"I don't think the rescue squad will make it in time!" I cried, continuing her joke. She was the only one who understood what a culture shock that whole thing was. Opening the door, we both shared in a laugh. "Just give me a moment to put on my necklaces, and I'll be right down."

"Alright." She walked off down the hall as I grabbed my dog tags and the silver key and followed after her.

The second I got down the stairs, those twins popped out of nowhere, each grabbing one of my arms and pulling me into another room. "Senpai!" I cried out for help, trying to pull away.

Tamaki fast-walked behind us. "Don't worry, Miyuki. This is Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. You can leave your outfit and hair and make-up in their capable hands."

"Forgive me if this is being rude," the twins glanced at me, their curious expressions mirror images of each other, "but which one of you is Hikaru, and which one of you is Kaoru?"

"I'm Hikaru." The boy on my left said at the same time the boy on my right said, "I'm Kaoru."

Something told me that learning to tell them apart would be a fun challenge.

The outfit the twins picked out was thankfully reminiscent of my actual style. It consisted of a black, A-line skirt that fell to just above my knees. Shirt-wise, they had me in a red button down with a black vest on top. My shoes were the ones I had worn the whole time- which was a pair of worn, leather combat boots.

While the twins were blow drying my hair straight, I was munching on a piece of cake Honey had given to me- I would have felt bad turning him down twice in a row- and talking to Haruhi more about what life in the Host Club was like for commoners like us.

"They hadn't even tried instant coffee until I came around." She said with a slight smile. "And it took Tamaki-senpai until he saw my I.D. to realize I was a girl."

I laughed softly. "He's a sweet guy, and his heart is in the right place, but sometimes he can be totally clueless."

"You haven't even seen the worst of it yet." Hikaru interjected.

"Yeah," Kaoru added, "the more you get to know him, the more you'll see how clueless he really is."

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Tamaki called from the couch across the room. Haruhi, the twin, and I shared in a laugh as Hikaru tied a silky red ribbon in my hair.

"She doesn't really need a lot of make-up." Hikaru said, glancing up from the make-up box-thing.

Kaoru walked over and pulled out what Hikaru had been searching for without having to look very hard. He applied a thin layer of some liquid concealer or something- I wasn't much of a make-up expert- obviously avoiding the bandage on my cheek. "You've got the kind of face that is really pretty even without any make-up." He said with a sweet smile that would no doubt make one of his Host Club fan girls go nuts.

"Thank you guys..." The two of them took a step back to examine their work.

"I think she needs to lose the necklace." Hikaru decided, reaching to take it off.

"No!" I cried, a little too loud, and wrapped my fingers around it. "It was my brother's." I continued quieter. "I won't take it off. It's too precious to me." I gave a nostalgic smile and closed my eyes, picturing my brothers smile. "It reminds me that I'm never alone."


	3. Replacement Family

A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this one. School and being so sick left me with no time to breathe, let alone write. Without further adieu: Chapter three.

As the next few days wore on, I discovered how boring and lonely things got around the mansion when Tamaki went to school. After multiple attempts to do some chores around the house, Tamaki banned me from doing anything I could have someone else do for me. Letting other people do my work was never really something I was a fan of, but I obeyed his rules... While he was home at least. When he was at school, the maids didn't mind me helping out.

I usually made him a snack after school. I'm pretty sure he knew I was helping out behind his back. We talked about it one day over dinner- which I had helped prepare while he was doing homework.

"Things get kind of boring around here, huh?" He questioned, catching me off guard.

I looked up from my meal of elegantly prepared food. "Boring?" I put my hand to my mouth, taking a moment to think. "Not really." I placed my fork down on my plate and looked up into his eyes. "I mean, I suppose things get a little dull every now and again..."

"Is that why you've been trying to help out around here?" I blinked at him, not wanting to give him an answer, but at the same time not wanting to lie to his face. "Or does it have something to do with your family?"

How was it possible that he always hit the nail on the head when it came to what I was thinking? Such a clueless guy like that. It just didn't make sense. "It's... Because of my family..." I looked down at my hands folded on my lap fighting back tears. "I used to have chores and responsibilities like that at home." I returned my eyes to his with a sorrowful smile. "I guess working just makes me feel a little like I'm home. I'm sorry for disobeying your orders..."

"I can't really get upset if those were your intentions." So I went back to eating, thinking the conversation was over. "Maybe during our next break we could have the Host Club spend the night here." My fork froze half way to my mouth and I examined the self-proclaimed prince's face to see if he was being serious or not.

Recovering from the shock, I put the food from the fork in mouth and chewed the food before responding, "Yeah, that would be kind of fun. They seem like a cool bunch of people. All very unique. I think it's great how you're all so different, but you get along so well." I placed my fork down again, and folded my hands in front of my mouth, leveling my gaze with Tamaki. "Do you think I might be able to come visit the Host Club some time? You've gotten me very curious as to what it actually is you all do."

He considered the question first before answering. "That sounds manageable. But let's do that after the guys- and Haruhi- get to know you a little better at the sleepover!" He beamed at me, truly excited about the idea. I wondered how long he'd had it and had been waiting for an excuse to finally use it.

I sighed, smiling softly at him. _This guy can be such a child sometimes; so simple-minded. He's so perceptive of what others try to keep hidden, but is often too blind see to what is right in front of him. He's a purely kindhearted guy, though._

_XxXxXxXx_

It didn't take too long after the start of the "Official Host Club Sleepover" for me to regret agreeing to get involved in it. Obviously Kyoya shared in my feelings. As the others had an argument that I think had something to do with Haruhi, Kyoya sat back on the couch and watched it all happen.

"This not really your thing?" I took a seat next to him, watching the debate escalate.

"Not really." He pushed his glasses up on his nose and took a sip of tea. "But our king has declared it mandatory to come here and get to know you."

I scratched the back of my head, feeling guilty. "Sorry about that. When I mentioned that this place gets kind of dull when he's gone, I didn't expect him to drag you guys into it."

Kyoya crossed his leg over the other, leaning back casually. "It's fine, I suppose. He thinks of you like a sister, you know." I gave him a surprised look, silently asking him to explain. "He doesn't have a sister of his own- obviously." As Kyoya spoke, I couldn't help looking at Tamaki. "He doesn't want to mention it to you though, for fear it might upset you with the recent passing of your family."

I considered Kyoya's words carefully, all the while fixating my eyes on the princely boy. "He is like Isami in a lot of ways. The way they act is similar, although they look almost nothing alike. I don't really understand, though." I moved my eyes across the large room, finally landing in Kyoya. "Why would he do all of this for me? He didn't even know me, but he offered me a home, and friends, and a distraction from my life that was falling apart around me. Why, Kyoya-Senpai, why did he do all of this for me?"

Kyoya stood up, his back to me, "If you don't know the answer to that question, you must not know Tamaki that well." Then he just walked off, leaving me to ponder what he had told me.

While I was still lost in thought, Honey came up to me and tugged softly at my sleeve. "Miyu-Chan, do you have any cake?"

I smiled at him, for Tamaki had prepared me for anything the Host Club could throw at me. "Yeah! I made it myself. There's chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Will that do, Honey-Senpai?"

"That will be just fine." He said with an innocent grin. "Thank you very much."

I walked over to the group. They continued to banter about something. Actually, upon closer examination, it was only Tamaki and the Hitachiin boys who were arguing. "Hey, Niichan." I pulled on Tamaki's sleeve.

His arguing ceased immediately, and he looked at me with eyes full of surprise. "Y-yes Miyuki?"

"Do you want me to start making dinner for when you and your friends are finished arguing?" I looked around at them, locking eyes with each and everyone one- Kyoya a little longer than the rest. Then my eyes found their way back to Tamaki as I patiently awaited his answer.

Recovering from the initial surprise, he gave me a sweet smile. "That would be lovely, Miyuki. Thank you"

"We'll help you!" Honey smiled, grabbing Mori's wrist and dragging him into the kitchen with me.

"That sounds lovely."

As we cooked the meal, I spoke to Mori and Honey about the Host Club a little. "So, you guys are both third years, correct? Oldest in the Club."

"Yeah!" Honey responded. I noticed that Mori didn't talk to much. "Tama-Chan and Kyo-Chan are both second years, and Hika-Chan, Kao-Chan, and Haru-Chan are first years."

I sprinkled some salt over the pot boiling on the stove, glancing over my shoulder to ask, "Do you guys enjoy being part of the Host Club?"

"It's pretty cool. I get all the cake that I want." I tasted the concoction, and then started adding more ingredients. "We're all just like a family. Although that may just be Tama-Chan way of trying to keep things from changing."

"What do you mean by family?"

"Well," Honey came over to look at what I was doing, "Tama-Chan is like the father, and Kyo-Chan is the mother." I tried very hard not to snicker at that thought. "Haru-Chan is the daughter, and Hika-Chan and Kao-Chan are the sons. Takashi and I are their neighbors."

"That sounds lovely..." I smiled sadly at the pot.

"Now you're a part of the family, too!" Honey cheered, trying to cheer me up. I looked up at him in confusion. "You referred to Tama-Chan as your older brother just a little while ago didn't you?"

"So... That would make me Kyoya-Senpai's sister-in-law?" Honey nodded, thrilled by how excited I was getting about the idea. "And Haruhi and Hikaru and Kaoru are my niece and nephews! But what about you guys? Are you my neighbors as well?"

"We could be roommates." Mori suggested, speaking to me for the first time since I'd arrived. Although his tone sounded unconcerned, he seemed pleased by the joy Honey received from the suggestion.

"I love it!" I grinned, picturing it in my head. "Can our house have a meditation room and a huge outdoor training field?" The more I thought about it, the more excited I got.

"We already have those things." Honey informed me with a slightly coy smile. "Maybe you could come over sometime and we can train together!"

Looking back, I think it was the whole idea of having a replacement family that really helped me deal with the loss of my real one. It offered a nice distraction from the pain of their absence, if only for a brief moment.


	4. The Light

The night's air was pretty cool as I sat on top of one of the slanted awnings. I wondered if Tamaki knew that I often spent my nights on that roof staring at the stars. It was just something I did when I couldn't sleep.

_A tiny voice cried in the middle of the night. At first, I thought it was_ _only my imagination, but it eventually became undeniable._

_ I walked down the hall toward my younger brother Sora's room; the source of the crying. Silently, I poked my head in. I saw my three-year-old baby brother cradled in Isami's arms._

_ "Niisan," the small boy sobbed, "what if Kasan and Tosan don't ever come home?"_

_ I gripped the frame of the door tightly, fighting tears. What if they didn't come home? My poor younger brother would grow up without parents... "Miyuki, come on in."_

_ I looked at my brother, eight at the time, with shock. "O-okay."_

_ "Both of you are going to want to hear this." A five-year-old me went and cuddled next to my brothers. "Look, Tosan and Kasan are off fighting in the war. Until they come back, I'm going to take care of both of you. I swear it. You guys know that already. If they die, it's protecting something they care about, and that makes them heroes no matter what happens. There's no shame in that, so we shouldn't mourn them. We should celebrate their heroics."_

"I'm sorry, Niisan..." I held the silver key tightly. "I'm trying not to be sad, but it's harder when there's no one here to hug me when I'm crying."

I was so lost in the thoughts and memories of my childhood that I didn't even notice someone open up the window until he said something. "Couldn't sleep?"

Startled, I turned around to face whoever spoke. It was one of the Hitachiin boys. "You're Kaoru, right?"

He smiled softly, climbing out the window and sitting on the window sill. "Yeah, you got it right. " I smiled slightly, proudly. "So what are you doing out here so late at night?"

I returned my attention to the stars, taking a pause before answering, "I'm just think about my family. Did I wake you or something?"

Kaoru came and sat down next to me, his legs stretched out in from of him. "Well, kind of. It's hard to sleep when you turn on a bunch of lights like that."

"Sorry..." I murmured, hugging my knees to my chest and shivering slightly. "Honestly, I'm terrified of the dark. Ever since that night at least."

Without me even having to ask, Kaoru took off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. "What happened that made you so afraid?" He questioned, sounding genuinely concerned.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to calm myself before responding. "You see, my family and I were enjoying dinner. Then, the lights went out, and all hell broke loose... And the only one of them I got to see again was my older brother, Isami as he was shoving me out the door and giving me this." I held out the key, looking at it shine in the moonlight. "I didn't mean to snap at Hikaru about it the other day. I suppose I should have explained why it was so important to me."

He shrugged as I stood up, carefully walking closer to the edge of the slanted roof top. "It was no big deal."

"... There are so many things I never said to them..." I spun around to face Kaoru, a serious tone in my voice. "Don't let that happen to you, Kaoru. You make sure that the people who you care for know it darn well."

"I promise, I will." He rose carefully, holding his hand out for mine. "Let's get back inside, okay?"

I nodded and took a step in his direction. I failed to notice that the tile of the roof was damp, and my foot slipped. As I started falling backward, I didn't utter a cry at all. I'd been trained to remain silent in situations such as that one. I closed my eyes tight and waited to feel the wind of my descent rushing past. Instead, I felt two hand wrap firmly around my out stretched arm. I opened my eyes, looking into Kaoru's and seeing my fear reflected in them.

"Please don't let go." I whispered, looking down at the long drop and then back at the only thing stopping me from making the plummet. My adrenaline was pumping and my breathing rate fast.

After a sickly moment in which I was teetering on the edge, Kaoru shifted his weight back, pulling me up with all his might. Out of fear, as I was returned to solid ground, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He wrapped his around my waist as the momentum caused us both to fall to the ground.

I could feel myself trembling and, with my ear against his chest, hear Kaoru's heart racing. Suddenly, something about the situation struck me as rather funny. I started laughing softly. Looking up at him, I gave a slight smile and said, "That was almost really ironic."

We both sat up as he looked at me like I was crazy. "Ironic? How so?"

"You mean you don't see it?" He shook his head. "My whole family is killed, and I'm the only one to survive only to die a few days later from falling off of a roof. I find that kind of ironic."

He let out an exasperated sigh, his face portraying a mixture of impatience and relief. "You really are one-of-a-kind."

"Did you get hurt...?" I asked, genuine concern in my voice.

"When I fell from Heaven?" He smirked at me, joking around in an attempt to relieve the tension. "It's all good. Hikaru went first, so he broke my fall." He gave me one of those huge smiles that he closed his eyes for; finding his own joke more hilarious than I did.

"No, you narcissistic little fool." Although I was grinning at his clever play off of my words as well. "I mean your head. Did you hit it when you fell a moment ago?" Before waiting for a response, I leaned forward, placing my hand on the back of his head and felt around to see if there was a bump. "Um... No, you seem to be okay..."

"How about you?" He asked, growing serious as I pulled my hand away.

"Just a little shaken up." I said with a smile. "Thank you so much, but next time, don't be such an idiot."

"Huh?!"

I gripped the collar of his shirt. "You could have gotten hurt you idiot!" His eyes were wide in shock at my sudden shift in mood. "What if you had fallen, too? Did you even think about that? Hikaru would never forgive me if I let you get hurt! No one told you to be a hero, Isami!"

I released him in shock as my words registered in my mind. He looked at me with his eyes wide as a tear slipped down my face. "I see now..." He said. "This is about your brother."

Closing my eyes tightly, I looked away from Kaoru as more tears streamed down my cheeks. "He used to sing me this song when I got scared or sad. It was in English, so I didn't understand the words, but it was still the most beautiful song I'd ever heard." I returned my gaze to the stars, choking back a sob. "He was such an amazing person... It just doesn't seem fair that people like the ones who killed him are allowed to keep living when he no longer can." There was a pause in which Kaoru said nothing. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to bother you with-"

"The light." He said unexpectedly.

"Wh-what?"

I looked at him, a sincere smile on his face as he watched the sky. "If you ever find yourself lost in the dark, just look for the light. You'll always find it." He stood up and walked back over to the open window, turning around once to say, "Good night, Miyuki."

"The... Light...?"


	5. Counter Strike

"I'm bored." Hikaru complained, resting his cheek against his fist and glaring at Kaoru and me, silently cursing us both for dragging him to the library.

I looked up from the book I was looking at, acknowledging him and hoping that would make him be quiet. "Okay." I said simply, returning my gaze to the book. "Dearly noted. Now could you please be quiet? The quicker we get finished, the quicker we can leave."

Allow me to set the stage for you: Three students- or rather, two students and one person pretending to be a student- in one of the many libraries at Ouran Academy. The two students were put in charge of keeping the visitor entertained while the person who considers the visitor a sister is busy making up a test before the start of the Host Club activities. That was where Hikaru, Kaoru and I were at the moment.

Hikaru let out the occasional sigh in the next few minutes, just to make sure that Kaoru and I knew he was still bored. Every time he did, we'd exchange a glance. "Are you guys finished yet?" He questioned impatiently.

I closed my book and slammed it down on the table. "Oh, great..." Kaoru muttered, not even looking up from his book as I pushed away from the table and stalked off to find something.

I returned with a stack of books in my hand, plopping them down on the table in front of Hikaru. "These books are about chemistry and physics. They're your favorite subjects, right?" He nodded. "So read them and shut up." I sat back down and reopened the history book I was studying so that I could take the exam to get into Ouran- something that was my idea, although I had Tamaki's support in it.

"Glad to see you handled that without losing your temper." Kaoru sarcastically praised.

I narrowed my eyes at him, causing him to snicker and stick his tongue out at me. "You two are impossible!" I said, standing up and gathering my books. "I'm going to the computers. You two stay put."

XxXxA little while laterXxXx

After a good amount of time of peace and quiet away from the twins, one of them came over and put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey. Club is going to start soon. Kaoru already left, so let's go meet him there, okay?"

I gave him a weird look. I thought I was getting pretty good at telling the twins apart, but I could have sworn that Kaoru was the one standing in front of me.

"Is something wrong, Miyuki?" He cocked his head to the side with a concerned expression.

"It's nothing." I said, gathering my books. I didn't want to be rude, but I honestly was a little disappointed I had gotten them confused.

He took my books from my hands, placing them on the return cart for me. "Then let's hurry up and get out of here. This place is boring."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I rolled my eyes at him, trailing behind him as he led the way to the club room.

As we walked past the one of the courtyards, Hikaru stopped walking and turned to look at me, a strange expression on his face. "Hm? What is it?"

He smirked at me. "I have something to ask you."

"Okay. Go for it." I leaned casually against one of the stone pillars.

He waited a moment before asking simply, "You like Kaoru, don't you?" My eyes grew wide as I looked at him in shock. He gave me a devilish smirk, because, as far as he was concerned, my expression gave him his answer. "You don't need to answer that. It's kind of obvious." He placed his hand against the wall next to my head, an intense look in his eyes. "Well, I happen to know that he already likes someone else, but I actually like you very much. What do you say? Do you think you would like to go out with me instead?"

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the branch of a bush move. That's when I understood what was happening. "I'm sorry, but Kaoru is the one that I like. Or, should I say you're the one I like." His eyes grew wide in surprise as I shoved his shoulder, pushing him aside and stooping down to pick up a stone. "Come out of there, Hikaru!" I cried, chucking the stone at where he was hiding.

"Ow!" Hikaru moaned, coming out from where he was hidden holding his head. He had an angry look on his face, but he had no right to get upset. That trick probably would have worked on someone who wasn't like me.

"What the heck is wrong with you guys?!" I questioned, expecting an answer.

"We were bored..." They said at the same time, sounding unsure of their answer.

I clenched my fists at my sides, closing my eyes because at that moment, I didn't even want to look at them. There were tears of rage in my eyes. "You guys are jerks." I opened my eyes again, staring daggers at the twins. "Next time you decide to pull childish crap like this, pick someone who can't tell you guys apart." I pushed past the two of them, sprinting off in the direction of the club room.

After a while of running, my vision blurred with tears, I ended up running into Mori and Honey- very literally. I wasn't really looking where I was going and I ended up hitting the two of them head on. I wiped the tears from my eyes with two fists. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't really looking where I was going."

"Miyu-Chan, what's wrong?" Honey questioned while Mori took my hand and pulled me back to my feet.

I gave a sigh and a sad smile, "It's just Hikaru and Kaoru pulling some stupid prank." I patted Honey's head. "It's nothing. Please don't concern yourself with it, Honey-Senpai. Do you think you could show me where the club room is?"

"Sure!" He gave a sweet smile, taking my wrist and leading to the room.

We stood outside the door. Hikaru and Kaoru still had not gotten there yet. "We have some time until club starts, right?" Honey nodded, and so did Mori. "Would you guys like to help me with a little counter strike?" I asked with a slightly coy smirk.

XxXx Every good evil plan needs two thing: 1) Trustworthy accomplices to set the trap, XxXx

"You mean Miyuki ran off?!" Hikaru and Kaoru asked at the same time of Honey and Mori.

Honey and Mori both nodded. "Miyu-Chan was pretty sad. We couldn't get her to stop crying."

"Crying?!" They questioned, immediately feeling guilty for what they had done.

"I think she said she was going to go back home." Mori stated.

"Yeah," Honey agreed, looking at the twins with a pair of sad eyes, "she ran off not to long ago. Tama-Chan is going to be so disappointed..."

Without another word, Hikaru and Kaoru took off, knowing that they needed to get her back at any cost.

XxXx 2) A convincing actor/ actress to close the deal. XxXx

I sat in one of the cherry blossom trees. It was pretty quiet as I waited. Two sets of footsteps sprinted across the courtyard. "Miyuki!" They called, noticing me on my little perch. I looked down on them with hate-filled eyes, and then returned my gaze to the sky without a word. I was too high for any human to be able to climb, so I figured I was safe for the time being. "Miyuki, don't go, please!"

I still didn't say anything. "Tamaki would be crushed!" Hikaru rationalized, trying to make me think about him rather than what they did.

"Do you really want to hurt him just because you're upset with us?" Kaoru questioned.

There was a long pause before I would even level my gaze with theirs. Looking at how serious and scared they were, I couldn't help but chuckle. Eventually, I was laughing so hard I nearly fell out of the tree. "What gives? What's so funny?!" They demanded of me as I climbed out of the tree.

"You guys- Really thought- I was going to leave because of a stupid prank!" I said, gasping for air as I continued to laugh so hard tears were in my eyes. "Tamaki did- Tell you guys- To keep me entertained after all."

The two of them narrowed their eyes at me. "That wasn't very nice, Miyuki."

I immediately stopped laughing, meeting both of their eyes before responding in a serious voice, "It's not fun to become someone's play thing, huh?" Their faces grew soft in understanding as they both shook their heads. "Come on," I took both of their hands, walking back toward club, "we're going to be late for my first day because of all the trouble you two caused."

Maybe the twins learned a few good lessons that day:

1) Not to pull pranks on people who aren't afraid to get them back for it

2) Those kinds of tricks only work on Tamaki, and

3) There was no way I'd ever abandon my new family for a reason that silly.

The only thing that still bothered me about the whole thing was where they got the idea that I liked Kaoru, but I quickly let it go, because we had arrived at the club room, and what I saw when the door was opened made my jaw drop.


	6. The Soldier's Will Lives On

"Oh my gosh..." I stared with wide eyes at the scene before me.

"Welcome!" The other Host chimed cheerfully.

The Club room was decked out like some kind of battle field. Things such as fake tanks, guns, bags of sand, and makeshift trenches were spread throughout the whole room. The Hosts themselves- aside from the twins, who had shown up late with me- were dressed like soldiers from the army.

"Miyuki!" Tamaki stepped forward, grabbing my wrist and pulling me around the room so that I could see it better. "What do you think? We did this theme special for you, since we knew you'd be here today. It's something that I thought about while you were telling us the story the other morning about your father being a soldier and your mother being a nurse. I also recall you mentioning that you and Isami-san wanted to follow in their footsteps. So we got you a costume as well!" He gave me a sweet smile as he pulled out a nurse's outfit. "Do you like it?"

For a long moment that I'm sure was torturous for the Hosts, I said nothing. As I stared at the outfit that looked nothing like the actual uniform that either of my parents wore, I couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed. Why had I left out such a crucial detail of the story...? Did I not trust my dear friends to know who I really was?

My lip trembled with a sob that I refused to let out. Smiling softly, I managed a tiny, "It's wonderful."

"Miyuki," Tamaki sat me down next to him, talking to me like a small child, "it's okay to cry." He rested my head on his shoulder and stroked my hair kindly. "We all know that you're hurt. There's no need to hide it from us." I continued to fight back my emotions. After all, Shinobi Battle Rule #25 strictly prohibited showing any emotion on the field of battle. "I know the kind of person you are is the kind of person who wants to keep your emotions hidden, but there's no need to be that way. As your friends, we only wish to help you."

I stood up, taking the nurse's outfit from where Tamaki had laid it down in the table. "Thanks, but I really don't feel like crying." I held the key around my neck. "They died heroes. Why would something like that make me sad?"

"We know how you must feel..." He said weakly, not wanting to push me too far.

I spun around to face him as he said that, impatience ringing in my voice. "Haruhi is the only one who can even come close to understanding, but even she can't fully comprehend." He looked shocked by my tone, so I continued in a calmer, softer voice, explaining slowly, "You don't understand how I feel. I hope you never do. Losing someone dear to you hurts so much, and I won't ever let you know that pain if I can help it."

Hikaru and Kaoru shifted in the doorway that they'd been standing in for some time at that point, standing slightly closer at the thought of finding out what life without each other would be like. They had changed into an army outfit typically worn by a Lieutenant in the army during World War II. Haruhi was wearing an identical uniform. Kyoya was wearing a uniform reminiscent of one generally worn by a Colonel. Honey and Mori's uniforms were styled like that of a General. Tamaki's outfit looked like that of the Grand Marshal. I assumed the whole thing was kind of a play on the hierarchy of the Host Club.

"You guys all look very handsome." I gave a sweet smile, attempting to lighten the heavy mood I had unintentionally created. Walking over to Kyoya, I questioned, "Could you show me where I should change, Senpai?"

"Of course." He began walking, so I followed. "Right this way."

XxXxA few moments laterXxXx

I looked at myself in the mirror in the dressing room. The nurse's outfit was rather authentic for what the Hosts were aiming for. I couldn't help chuckling to myself. "Maybe it's best they don't know I'm a ninja... I'd hate to lose them."

"Miyu-Chan, Miyu-Chan!" Honey called from outside the curtain.

I stepped out with a curious expression. "Yes, Honey-Senpai?"

Mori was with him as usual, and they had strangely serious looks on his faces. "Miyu-Chan. Maybe you should go talk to Tama-Chan..." I blinked at him in uncertainty. "He's very sad because he thinks that you don't trust him. That's not true, is it?" He gave me pleading puppy-dog eyes, implying that he might burst into tears if I said that it was true.

After a long silence, I met both of their eyes, and then turned my attention to the world outside the window. "I do trust him. I wouldn't be here if I didn't trust him. It's just that..." I closed my eyes and looked down. "I grew up with two amazing warriors as parents who taught me never to show my emotions. I grew up believing that emotions would only cloud my judgment and make me weak. He's probably right; I'm probably more upset about my family's death than I'm letting on. The thing is, even if I was aware of that pain, I'd have no clue how to show any of you." I meet both of their eyes, pleading silently with them to understand me. "Do you get what I'm saying, Senpai?"

"Maybe you could just try, okay?" Honey requested with a characteristically adorable smile.

I had started walking past the two of them, back out into the main club room. As I opened the door, I turned back only to say, "I'll try, Honey-Senpai."

The three of us arrived back just in time to greet the guests. Tamaki even asked me to help. It was actually very exciting, because I had been feeling lately that I was being a burden to him, so being able to help made me happy.

My job that day was to do anything that any of the Hosts needed me to do. Get tea, seat guests, strike up a conversation, ect. It was a pretty simple job, and I could just be myself, which I liked. I found it especially fun when the Hosts had me do little things to participate in their performances.

Walking over to Hikaru and Kaoru- on a mission for Kyoya at the time- I noticed them playing that silly game of theirs. With their army helmets covering their parts, their guests seemed to be having trouble telling them apart. I snickered softly, finally alerting them to my presence. They looked over at me. "Oh, hey Miyuki. What's so funny?"

I cocked my head to the side, looking the two of them over. "I just find it kind of funny how these girls claim that you're their favorite Hosts, yet they can't tell the two of you apart..." The whole group- the twins included- looked mortified by my words. "But there's no need to get upset!" I said with a grin. "Kyoya-Senpai has this really cool quiz book so that you can practice telling them apart." I held up one of the books as the girls' eyes grew wide. "Just talk to him if you're interested in buying them, okay?"

Immediately, they took off to talk to Kyoya about the book, while I approached the twins with a victorious grin.

"Kyoya-Senapi put you up to that, huh?" They questioned. Although I wasn't really sure if they were happy or annoyed at what I'd done.

I gave a simple shrug in response. "Sure. I'm happy to help Kyoya-Senpai. I mean, you two have each other, but he's got no one to help him out." I turned away, stopping to tell them, "If you guys ever need my help, give me a shout, okay?" I snapped and pointed at them, giving a wink before I strolled off.

Standing near one of the tables, alone for the moment, Tamaki waved at me as I walked over to him. "Niichan," I didn't hesitate a moment, but just walked right up to him and rested my forehead against his chest, wanting very badly for him to give me a hug, "you're right... I miss them very much... I just don't know how to tell you."

He wrapped his arms around me. If I closed my eyes and imagined hard enough, I could almost pretend it was Isami who was holding me close. Although my replacement brother was about the next best thing. "I know, Miyuki... I know."


	7. Old Friend- New Challenge

People were bustling all over, everyone talking at once, walking quickly and thinking that where they had to go was more important that where anyone else had to go. It was a scene that I was very used to, but the Hosts- Tamaki and the twins mostly- were very overwhelmed by everything.

"Look over there!" Tamaki cried, running off without any warning.

"No, this way!" Hikaru and Kaoru also took off to somewhere unknown.

"Look, a cake shop!" Honey grabbed Mori's wrist and dragged him off to the bakery. Turning around, I noticed that Kyoya and Haruhi had also wandered off without a word to do their own things.

I sighed. I hadn't even wanted to go to the mall to begin with, but I wanted to be there less being left all alone like that. "I suppose I'll just find a nice quiet book store or something." I said to myself, sulking slightly as I wandered away from the fountain. "I need a break from these guys and their activeness anyway."

XxXA little while laterXxXx

After an hour or so of sitting in a quiet corner of the book store, the store manager shooed me out, yelling something about how he was running a business and not a library. So I wandered around for a little while until I ran into Kyoya.

"Oh, hey Senpai." He looked up at me.

"There you are, Miyuki." He was walking rather fast, so I sped up my pace to match his.

"Have you seen any of the others?" I questioned, constantly glancing around.

"That's actually why I was looking for you." That shocked me a little. Why have Kyoya of all people search for me? I wasn't sure he particularly liked me, or maybe it was just that he had nothing to gain from being kind to me. "The others wanted us to meet them somewhere. Follow me." He began walking a little quicker, and, again, I sped up my pace.

"Senpai!" I called, stopping all together. He stopped as well and looked back at me. "I figured out what you meant the other day. At the sleep over when we were talking about why Tamaki helped me." He said nothing, waiting for me to answer my own earlier question. "It's just the kind of person he is." I said smiling.

He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and began walking again. "You're a very interesting girl, Miyuki." Was all he said as I followed after him again.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the place the Hosts had told Kyoya and me to meet them. It was a large clothing store.

"Miyuki!" The twins cheered, and, without a moment of hesitation, each grabbed one of my wrists. "We have some things we want you to try on."

I was usually a very agreeable person, so I didn't put up much of a fight. I didn't mind playing their dress-up doll, but I got bored of it after a while and managed to sneak off.

I heard a few voices calling out my name, trying to find me, and the whole scene turned into a game of hide-and-seek. As I neared the back of the store, a new voice said my name. I recognized it, but it didn't belong to one of the Hosts. I turned around and found myself face to face with an older boy about Kyoya's height who had brown hair and green eyes, which were full of shock at seeing me. I recognized the boy instantly. "Sho-Senpai... What are you doing here?"

"Miyu-Chan, it _is_ you!" Without warning, he wrapped his arms around me. "You're actually here. I thought I was going insane, but you're here!" Sho held me at arms length, his light green eyes lit up, that familiar smile of his spread across his face. "You're really here."

"Ha! We found... you..." Hikaru and Kaoru trailed off, taking notice of Sho and not knowing how to respond. "Who's this?" They asked simply, almost accusingly.

Sho let me go at last as I turned to the twins with a soft smile. "This is Sho Tanaka. He was a very close friend of my brother's." I motioned broadly to the twins. "This is Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. They're first years over at Ouran Academy. They're good friends of mine."

"Nice to meet you." They said with mischievous grins only I could decipher.

"So Ouran Academy is where you've been hiding out these past few days?" Sho questioned putting an arm around my shoulder. "I thought that you were dead. Your whole family was found dead the other day, but you had just vanished!"

The smile immediately disappeared from my face, the twins also growing serious. Thankfully, Tamaki and the rest of the Hosts found us then, breaking the painful silence. "Miyuki, who is this? A friend of yours?"

I nodded, giving the Hosts a soft smile. "This is Sho." He gave a smile and waved shyly. I pointed to each of them as I said their names. "This is Tamaki Suoh and Kyoya Ohtori- both second years- Honey and Mori- third years- and Haruhi Fujioka- a first year like the twins. All of them belong to the Ouran Hosts Club."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." He returned his gaze to mine. "Miyu-Chan, you are coming back to the village tomorrow, right?"

I blinked at him in confusion. "Why would I want to do that?"

His expression grew very sympathetic as he placed a hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eyes. "The funeral for your family is tomorrow, Miyu-Chan." I shut my eyes, looking down. I could feel the energy in the room shift. Tamaki held out his hand as if he were about to try to comfort me, but he let it fall back to his side when Sho pulled me into a tight hug. "I know this has been hard on you. That's probably why you've been hiding out here, huh?" I didn't say anything. But he was right. "You need to come back to the village tomorrow. You can't miss the funeral. It could be your last chance to see them."

"Can they come, too?" I mumbled the question against his chest.

"Of course, Miyu-Chan. If that will make you happy." Sho always loved to make me happy. Even when we were little. He didn't have any other siblings, so he'd always thought of me like his little sister. He'd been watching out for me for as long as I could remember.

"Thank you, Senpai..."

**(So, here's the deal, guys. That chapter was kind of short and there wasn't a lot of interesting things happening. So how about I add a little sneak peak into a future chapter? Fair warning: there's a bit of a spoiler for those of you who haven't finished the Ouran manga. Here it is:)**

I gave a sigh of defeat as I plopped down on a bench near a bus stop. Did I honestly believe it would be so easy to find seven people in a huge city like Boston? Burying my face in my hands, I let out another sigh.

People passed by, some were in groups and others alone. They were all ignoring me. They jut kept going as if they didn't even see me. Decisively, I searched through my bag for that photo I'd looked at for the last two years. The goal I'd been working towards. Being able to see them again.

"Excuse me!" I stood insistently in front of the first person I saw, refusing to be ignored any longer. "Have you seen these people? They're exchange students from Japan-" The lady shook her head and left without a word.

"Have you seen these people?" I followed another person, holding up the photo. "Tamaki and Haruhi?" He shook his head ad walked faster. I turned to the next person. "Kyoya and Honey and Mori?" He didn't even look up at me, so I turned to someone else, the desperation growing in my voice as I asked, "The Hitachiin brothers, Hikaru and Kaoru? Have you seen them?" She waved her hands no, seeming more regretful than all the others. I stopped walking, felling hopeless all over again. I cried out helplessly, "Has anyone seen Tamaki Suoh?!"

A girl near by me stopped walking, looking at me with a confused expression. "Are you a friend of Tamaki's?"

I could see my face light up in her eyes. "Yes!" There was relief in my voice. "Can you tell me where to find him."

She gave me a sweet smile. "I don't know where he lives, but his girlfriend is usually in the library on the next street over. Do you also know Haruhi Fujioka?"

"They're dating now?!" I gaped at the girl. "Yes, I'm very fond of all the exchange students, but I haven't seen them in nearly two years." I laughed softly, almost to myself. "I wonder what else has changed." Returning my attention to the girl, I bowed to her. "Thank you!"

Along the way, I scanned the streets in search of even one familiar face as I sprinted along the sidewalk. Not looking where I was going, I ended up running into someone. We both fell to the ground. I winced, holding my head which had made contact with his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, sir. Are you okay?" I rose to my feet and looked up to see him- also on his feet- gaping at me. His bright purple eyes were wide, and his golden blonde hair slightly displaced from the fall. I didn't want to believe my eyes, but the silver key around his neck confirmed what I was seeing.

"Miyuki, is that-"

"Niichan!" I cried, springing into Tamaki's arms with a bright smile on my face. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"You're alive!" He held me tightly, as if holding on to a dream. "We all thought we'd never see you again."

We held each other close for a long time, not bothered by the people witnessing out embrace, because they were pretending not to see us anyway. He held me at arms length and looked me over, from my messy hair to my tattered clothes, and gave me the biggest smile I'd ever seen on him."You've become so grown up. It's like looking at a picture of your mother."

"You've hardly changed at all." I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the silver key. "I can't believe you kept this all this time."

He grabbed my wrist suddenly, pulling me along down the street. "You have to come see everyone!" They'll be so excited to see you alive and well."

"How are they all doing?" I questioned, keeping pace with his swift walking.

With a smile and wink, he responded coyly, "Just wait and see for yourself."

The place he led me to was a rather plain apartment building a few stories high. The neighborhood seemed nice and quiet. Tamaki didn't give me much time to admire the simple home, though. He dragged me swiftly up a few slights of stairs and then stopped outside the door.

Both of us were a little short on breath. "Wait here a moment while I make sure everyone is here." So he disappeared inside as I waited outside, trying to make myself look presentable.

"Great! Everyone is here." I heard the blonde's voice on the other side of the door. "We have a very special visitor!" The door knob turned and he threw open the door.


	8. Dark Shadow

"Is that the girl, boss?" A deep voice that belonged to a man with dark hair sticking out from under a beanie he wore often asked. He peered through binoculars at the black haired girl, who had just entered the village, surrounded by a bunch of men obviously not from the village.

After a quick glance, the leader, a man with curly blonde hair, nodded in confirmation. "That's her alright."

"How can you tell?" The subordinate questioned.

A wicked grin spread across the blonde's face. "I'd say it's because she has her brother's eyes, but I have no clue what they look like devoid of terror and pain." He snickered softly, finding the joke more hilarious than he let on, but knowing they needed to keep quiet. "Just trust me. I know that's the girl."

A third man emerged from the shadows, a scar running down his entire face from his left temple to his chin. "Take a closer look at who that girl is with." After a moment of his two team mates staring and not catching on, he finally took pity and explained, "Those boys are all from very wealthy families. Very wealthy human families. What are people like them doing with someone like her?"

The man with the beanie spoke up. "She's been staying in the blonde one's house since that night. All those boys belong to some club. My research hasn't come up with anything more important than that."

"So, in short," the leader gave another evil grin, "she cares for those boys very much." His two comrades nodded, coming to the same conclusion. "It would sure be a shame if something were to happen to them, huh?" He made no effort to stifle his evil laughter that time. "Your pathetic brother can't save you this time, Miyuki Sato. No one makes a fool of us and gets away with it!"

XxXxAt the gateXxXx

"Woah... Look over there!" Hikaru and Kaoru pointed to the building where the leader of the village, the Hokage, resided.

"That mountain is interesting." Kyoya observed. "Whose faces are those?"

"The past leaders." I answered quietly, not really focusing on the question.

"These buildings are so unique..." Tamaki mused.

Haruhi was watching me kind of closely, so I gave her a small smile to assure her that I was doing alright. That was when Sho appeared dressed in all black- just like us- with a sympathetic smile on his face that- unlike the previous day- had a cut on it.

"It's nice to see you all again. Welcome to the Leaf Village." The welcome was tired, sad, and halfhearted. It was a nice attempt, though.

I pulled Sho aside, whispering to him, "Could you keep an eye on them until the funeral starts? I want to go visit my house... Alone..."

Loyal as always, Sho placed a hand on my head with a sweet smile. "Sure, Miyu-Chan. Are you sure you want to go alone?"

I hesitated a moment, but held firm to my original plan. "Yeah, I need to do this alone..."

He nodded, immediately turning to the Hosts with a friendly grin, questioning, "Who wants to go on a tour?" He had a bright smile on his face, but he still seemed off. Was he hurting as well? Isami was his best friend.

I grabbed Sho's arm as he walked past, saying loudly enough so that the others could hear, "You keep a really good eyes on these guys. They're a bunch of trouble makers." I leveled my gaze with Hikaru and Kaoru's. "Especially those two sketchy twins." They gave me mischievous smiles, but even they seemed distant and lackluster.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said with a smile and a reassuring squeeze of my arm before he lead the group away.

I watched the group laughing and chatting idly, not making a move in any direction until they had all disappeared from view. Humming one of the English songs my brother had taught me quietly, I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jacket and started walking.

XxXxXxX

It's said that time can heal all things, including a heart broken like mine. As I stood in the door way of my home, I found that time had only broken my heart even more.

Slowly, slowly I walked through the front door and dropped my purse to the ground next to it, just as I had done every day since I began school. Everything looked at if no one had touched it since I left. A thin layer of dust coated the book shelf- devoid of books- and the candle and candle holder. I stood in the door way for a long time, taking in the whole place. It all looked the same.

I glanced to my left at the kitchen. That was also covered in a thin layer of dust and smelled slightly of rotting food. The table where our family had sat so many times to eat dinner was still set from that night. All of the food we hadn't eaten remained in it's place. Since it was my turn to clean up after dinner that night, I slowly shuffled over and instinctively begin clearing the table. Once I was satisfied with the state of the kitchen, I wandered to my room.

It was a very simple room. I was a very simple person. In one corner was a bed. Across from the bed was a vanity that had all of my ninja tools and my head band resting on top. Next to the vanity was a dresser. I went to my dresser and wrapped my fingers around my head band, clinging tightly to my old life. Slowly, I tied it around my forehead, looking at myself in the mirror- my old self.

Absently, I made my way to Sora's room. Pictures were hung all over the white walls, making the room look just like a normal child's room. Sora was a normal child. He was only twelve-years-old. I couldn't bring myself to enter the room.

My parent's room was the next down the hall. The door was closed, and everything was silent on the other side. Slowly, I opened the door, poking my head in. No one was inside the room. I don't know why I was expecting someone to be there.

As I continued on to the last room- Isami's room- I couldn't help but notice that nothing had been taken from the house. Nothing had been destroyed. The only thing missing was my family. So that's what the murderers were after. But why...?

I tried to push it out of my head as I entered Isami's room. It was just as plain as mine. Neither of us were as artistic as Sora. My hand around the key necklace, I fell to my knees at the bedside where I had always run to when I had a bad dream. "Oh, Isami-Niisan!" I crossed my arms on top of the mattress and hid my face. "I'm having the worst dream right now... I'm here, but no one else is home." For the first time in a long time, I cried like a small child again. I stayed at Isami's bed side sobbing until I almost couldn't breathe.

Emotions were a weakness. That was always what I had been taught. But, that day, sitting at my brother's bed side crying my eyes out, I came to this conclusion: No one, not even a shinobi like me, could be strong all the time.


	9. A Broken Heart Still Beats

Sho led the Hosts around the village becoming more nervous as time wore on. He was beginning to run out of things to show them, and, after what Miyuki had said, he greatly feared what would happen if they got too bored.

"Why don't we go to the top of the great Stone Faces?" Sho suggested happily, internally wondering when Miyuki would be back.

He received approval with various levels of enthusiasm from the Hosts, so he proceeded to guide them to the base of the mountain.

"Sho-Senpai?" Sho looked up at the blonde member of the group. If he was being totally honest, he had to admit that he didn't remember any of their names. He had been paying more attention to Miyuki than what she had been saying. "Has Miyuki always acted like she does now?"

Sho stopped walking, considering the boy's question. "Um... Yeah. She's been like that for as long as I can remember, and I have known her for quite some time now." He began walking again, leading the group to the stairs. "I suppose she's gotten a little worse since her family was killed. She always has been a very guarded person, but never around her brother. That's why they always stuck together. She wasn't one to easily trust others, but she would follow wherever her brother led without a single question. That's why I was a little shocked at first that she had trusted you so easily, but it's probably because you're so much like him."

"What are you saying, Sho-Senpai?" One of the twins asked.

"That Tamaki-Senpai reminds Miyuki of her brother?" The other twin asked.

Sho stared at the two of them for a moment wondering how anyone was able to tell them apart. "It's certainly a possibility. I mean, Isami and Tamaki look next to nothing alike, but they act very similar."

"Speaking of Miyu-Chan," The smallest boy came up next to Sho clutching a pink stuffed rabbit, "where did she run off to?"

"Uhhh..." Sho glanced at them all, wondering if Miyuki wanted them to know or not. What harm could it do? "She went to go visit her old home."

"All by herself?!" The twins and the blonde both asked at the same time.

Sho nodded. "Sure, why not? I mean, there are some things that she just has to do on her own, right?"

They grew quiet in understanding.

XxXxMeanwhileXxXx

I wandered around the village in search of Sho and the Hosts, but I couldn't seem to locate them. There was another matter on my mind, though. I noticed a few people giving me strange glances. I tried very hard to convince myself it was only my imagination, but I just couldn't.

At last, I located the Hosts.

"All by herself?!" Tamaki and the Hitachiin boys shouted.

Sho gave a nod, looking rather somber as I approached. "Sure, why not? I mean, there are some things that she just has to do on her own, right?"

The boys grew silent. I hesitated, unsure of if I should interrupt or not.

A soft, sincere smile spread across Sho's face. "I know you guys are worried about her; I am too. I promised Isami a long time ago that if anything ever happened to him, I'd look after her. She doesn't really need me to, though. Same as she doesn't need anyone to worry about her. She's a very strong girl" He turned to me with a smug grin, knowing I was there the whole time. "She's also pretty bad at eavesdropping."

The others turned their attention to me as well. "I- I wasn't eavesdropping!" I stuttered, knowing I would never be believed. They all snickered. "Forget it. Let's get going before we're late for the funeral."

"Right behind you, eavesdropper." Sho teased, falling in step behind me.

There was a pleasingly large turn out for the funeral. Everyone was dressed in black- as to be expected. No one was really looking at me, but I think I did catch a few cutting glances out of the corner of my eye. Although I considered it my imagination and let it go.

"You're Miyuki Sato?" Some girl about my brother's age asked. I think I recognized her. She was on his team at one point.

"Yes, that's me." I turned to her without any emotion on my face.

"This is all your fault!" She declared and, without any warning, punched me across the face. I stumbled back a few steps before calmly spitting the blood out of my mouth, my face still a mask of calm. "If you hadn't abandoned your brother, he'd still be alive right now! Coward!"

"Hey!" Haruhi gaped at the girl, not understanding her motives.

"Who do you think you are?" The twins questioned.

"Miyu-Chan, are you alright?" A concerned Honey pulled at my sleeve while Tamaki took a step in the other girl's direction, an angry look on his face.

I put my arm out in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. Not looking at any of them, I stated blankly, "Let it go you guys. She had every right to do what she did. Someone had to call me out on running away. I was a coward. Now my family is gone. These are all facts that I'm well aware of." I wiped a bit of blood from my chin without an ounce of concern. "Besides, I got off lucky." I informed them, walking off to find a seat. "She can hit much harder."

"What the deal with that girl, anyway?" Hikaru asked of Sho.

"How is she connected to Isami?" Kaoru clarified his brother's question a little.

"Her name is Amaya." His eyes followed me, trying to decipher why I was acting more passive than usual. Did Amaya's words really sting that much? "She and Isami used to work very closely with each other. One day, she told him that she liked him, but he said that he couldn't date her. Taking care of Miyu-Chan and Sora-Chan was his main responsibility. She'd had it out for Miyu-Chan ever since. That's why she brushed off Amaya's words and that punch like it was nothing new. Although I'm beginning to think she's a little more hurt than she's letting on- which usually is the case."

I turned around with a sad smile, having heard the whole conversation. "It's really not a big deal you guys. I can take a punch. Besides, if that's how she's choosing to deal with her loss, who am I to tell her she can't? If it helps her feel better, I'm happy to help." All of their eyes showed slight concern for my lack of response to what had happened. "Come on." I mumbled, giving up on convincing them that I was fine. They wouldn't believe me even if I wasn't lying. "It's time to sit down."

"Miyu-Chan?" Honey took my hand in his with a sad look in his eyes. "Can I sit next to you? I'll let you hold Usa-Chan."

I gave him a soft smile, clinging a little tighter to his hand. "I would really appreciate that, Honey-Senpai. Thank you."

Honey handed me the stuffed rabbit as we all made our way to our seats. The funeral was beginning.


	10. Homeward Bound

I drifted around the club room contently helping whenever I was needed. It had been two days since the funeral. I had long since managed to push it out of my mind, though. The school year was getting close to coming to a close, and the club room was full of middle school third years. Kyoya and I had come up with the idea to invite them to the club room as a marketing technique for the next semester.

"Welcome!" I smiled sweetly at two girls who stood shyly in the door way. "Do you know who you'd like to sit with?"

"Uhh..." They both breathed in unison, their uncertainty showing on their faces.

"I'll take that as a no." I motioned for them to follow me. "Let me give you a quick run down. Come right this way." Nodding in his direction, I recited the script I had been given. "That's Tamaki Suoh. He's kind of top dog around here. Being the princely type, his request rate is 70%." I motioned across the room at the twins. "Over there is Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin." I gave the girls a wink, jokingly challenging, "I bet you'll never be able which is which. They're the mischievous type. Right here is Takashi Morinozuka and Mitsukuni Haninozuka- Mori and Honey for short. Mori is the is the dark haired one- the wild type- and Honey is the boy-Lolita type. If you look over there, you'll see our natural type, an honor student named Haruhi Fujioka. Last but not least, the one near the door with the glasses is Kyoya Ohtori- the cool type." With a glance at the girls, they seemed rather timid and overwhelmed. "You can pick, or you could sit with me for a little while and I could tell you more about them."

"C-could we sit with H-Haruhi?" One of the girls stuttered out, hiding her mouth behind her hands.

"Of course you can, lovely princesses." They were a little shocked at being called that. "Haruhi?" She looked up at me as I called out to her. "Would you mind giving these two lovely princesses a tour of the campus?"

She gave them one of her signature smiles. It was incredibly uncanny at how convincingly she played the part of a Host. "Of course. Right this way, ladies."

I repeated that scripted tour a few times, but occasionally the girls knew who they wanted to sit with. It was a rather nice turn out as I fed off of all the energy.

"Hey, Niichan." I smiled sweetly at Tamaki. "Can I get you and your lovely guests some more tea?"

His guests whispered a chorus of 'aww's.' Patting the seat next to him, he said, "Why don't you come sit for a moment and introduce yourself?"

"Yeah!" One of the girls pipped up, her eyes wide in excitement. "We'd love to meet Master Tamaki's sister."

I gathered all of the glasses on a tray. "My name is Miyuki. Tamaki isn't really my brother, but he did save my life. I'll let you tell that story, Niichan, while I got get more tea."

"Hey, Miyuki!." Hikaru and Kaoru called out at the same time as I walked over to the table. "Where is everyone else?"

"Everyone else, aside from Tamaki-Niichan, is off giving a tour." They nodded in understanding. "Can I get you guys anything while I'm here?"

"Do you think you could get our guests something sweet?" The gave me identical smile at the request that made the girls near them sigh happily.

"But Kaoru," Hikaru said, putting his hand to his brother's chin with an intense look in his eyes, "nothing will ever be sweeter than you."

"Hikaru..." Kaoru breathed softly.

The girls went nuts as I took my leave to fulfill the request with a sigh. "I guess I'll never understand those two."

I stood at the serving table filling cups with tea and a tray with cake. That was when the lights when out. I started panicking. A nervous whisper rushed over the room like a wave as I dropped the glass and saucer in my hand. The teas splashed out, but they didn't break.

"Miyuki!" I heard Kaoru's voice call above the noise. "Sing your brother's song for me."

"B-but-"

"I'm really scared, Miyuki." He rationalized. "I'm really scared I won't be able to find you."

"I-it's in English." I argued. "You won't understand the words."

"That doesn't matter."

"My voice is all shaky. It won't sound good."

"I don't care! Just sing so I can find you."

I shook tea off of my trembling hands and pulled in a deep breath. "_In the quiet, misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed..._"

"I'm getting close, so don't get scared."

_"When the sparrows stop their singing, I'll be homeward bound again-"_

A hand wrapped around my wrist, and Kaoru's voice said softly in my ear, "Found you, lost little princess."

He flipped open his cell phone, illuminating the immediate area between us. His golden-brown, brimming with concern, eyes held mine for a moment. I clung tightly, instinctively to his free hand as my eyes began to wander to the darkness outside our orb of light.

"No, no," Kaoru put his hand under my chin, returning my eyes to his, "keep your eyes on mine." He gave me a smile that lit up his eyes.

Before either of us knew what had happened, an arm emerged from the shadows. There was a frightened cry as Kaoru's hand was ripped from mine, and his cell phone fell to the ground throwing me back into the darkness. The lights came back on just in time to for me to see the door close.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru cried, sprinting after his brother and whoever had taken him.

"Please stay here." Tamaki called to all of the girls attempting to appear calm. "Miyuki, stay with them."

He dashed off after Hikaru, me following closely behind despite his order. I scoffed, "Not a chance!" There was no more debate on the subject.

Swiftly down the stairs- taking them three or more at a time- and down the hall. Windows zoomed past to our right as the three of us sprinted down the hall. Our footsteps echoed around us, as did the sound of Kaoru's constant struggling. We burst out some doors and into the courtyard, the unexpectedly bright sun making us squint to see the four dark figures. We managed to close a lot of the distance between our two parties in the dash across the courtyard, although all three of us were panting lightly. That was no time to give up, though. We were so close that I could see the terrified look in the younger twin's eyes. We pushed ourselves to go a little faster, following the kidnappers into the large dinning hall that was devoid of people at the time. Once inside, Hikaru ran across one of the tables and dive-bombed one of the shadowy figures. They both hit the ground as the others stopped as well.

I was about to run at the men who had dared try to take Kaoru away from us when Tamaki put his arm out in front of me. "I know you're worried, but stay out of this fight. Hikaru and I will handle things, you just stay safe."

Tamaki and Hikaru weren't weaklings, but there was no way they stood a chance against those men. I didn't even stand a chance against them. If my family couldn't beat them, then how could I?

They lasted longer than I had anticipated. I watched from the sidelines as the two of them fought my battle for me and I began wondering when I had become so dependent on the Hosts. Even since that very first day.

_"How would you like to come stay at my house, my lost princess?"_

"_He's brought a first-aid kit so that we can get you all fixed up."_

"_You can leave your outfit and hair and make-up in their capable hands."_

"_Please don't let go."_

"_No, no, keep your eyes on mine."_

"_Hikaru and I will handle things."_

Why was I trusting them to fight my battles for me?! Where was my pride at a time like that? Why was it that they were the ones protecting me?

With one powerful hit, Tamaki was sent skidding across a table beside me. "Tamaki!" I cried out, about to run and check on him when Hikaru got thrown into me. I stumbled backwards with my arms wrapped around his torso barely able to keep us both from falling. "Hikaru, are you okay?"

He tried to run back into the battle. Grabbing his wrist and turning him back to face me, I recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same one my brother had just before he told me to leave. "Hikaru, stop it. You don't stand a chance."

"I don't care!" He cried. "I won't let them take Kaoru!"

"There's no way you could win against them." I stated frankly. "They're Shinobi- elite ninja warriors. That's like fighting Mori-Senpai and Honey-Senpai times a thousand. Still willing to take the chance?"

"Didn't you hear me? That doesn't matter!"

"I'm the only one who can beat them, because I'm a Shinobi, too. I'll protect Kaoru with my life. Do you trust me?"

I released his wrist, and there was a long pause. I internally worried that his response would be no, but at last he gave me a begrudging, "Yes, I trust you."

Without hesitation, I shoved him toward Tamaki. "Stay together. You'll be easier to protect that way." Hikaru sprinted to the dazed warrior prince. " Just leave this to me."

**A/N: **Song credits go to _Marta Keen_ , who wrote the music and lyrics for the song, _Homeward Bound. _


	11. Protector

"So," The man holding Kaoru said slowly, almost mockingly, "you're Miyuki Sato?"

I recognized his deep, bass-like voice that sent a shiver down my spine, his curly, messy blonde hair, his dark eyes boring into mine like a predator staring down its prey. Everything. He stood at about Mori's height and had a muscly build, making me seem absolutely tiny in comparison. I knew this man all too well. In spite of my obvious disadvantage, my muscles were tense and ready to strike. "You mean you didn't get a good look at me while you were killing my family?"

The man smiled wickedly. "Unfortunately, your pathetic excuse for a brother got in my way." My hands clenched at my sides in anger. "He put up a pretty good fight. Just thought you'd like to know."

I narrowed my eyes at him in a deadly glare. "This fight is between you and me. Leave them out of this!"

There was a pause in the conversation as he looked me over, defiantly holding Kaoru tighter. The boy winced as I let out a low growl while Tamaki struggled to keep Hikaru out of the fight. "I'm interested to see how a cowardly child like you intends to back up such strong words. According to my files, you're a close range, weapon-based fighter. What you lack in speed, you make up for in brains. You and Isami made a pretty good team. Maybe if you had stuck around, he'd still be alive."

It was a common tactic for an enemy to try and mess with their opponent's confidence. The tricky part was realizing that you already knew what they were saying. "Thanks for the analysis of my fighting ability," I sneered sarcastically, "but I didn't ask for your opinion. You're right about what you said." I stated simply, pulling a kunai knife out of my boot. "I'm about to make up for that."

Before making my move, I assessed the situation carefully. Clothes wise, I was in an outfit I could fight in, so that didn't add to my disadvantages. As far as weapons went, I only had two kunai knives, one of which was in my hand. I couldn't be wasteful with them. The battle field was not ideal, but it was manageable. In spite of the tables and chairs scattered about, it was a large enough space that it was possible for any of them to be out of my range at any given time. That could cause some trouble. Under normal circumstances, I would have more tools capable of extending my range, but I knew I would have to manage with my kunai and my bare hands. All of those element along with the fact that I was out numbered made me doubt my chances of success in the battle. Four of them against one of me weren't the most ideal odds, but there was no way I could just give up. One look into Kaoru's terrified eyes immediately strengthened my resolve.

Clutching the kunai slightly tighter, I ran at the men, putting everything else out of my mind. I slashed the weapon at the closest man who easily dodged. I ducked under the fist of another of the attackers, swiftly standing back up and hitting him with a teeth shattering uppercut. I felt someone behind me and jerked my elbow into his abdomen. One of them grabbed my wrist, but I slashed the knife across his face and punched him in the chest once he let go of my wrist. He fell to his knees coughing only to have me roundhouse kick his jaw. One foe down.

A hand wrapped around my hair, harshly yanking me backward. He twisted my arm behind my back so hard that an unintentional gasp of pain escaped my lips. The other man had drawn a sword and was twisting the blood-stained blade in his hands with a wicked smile. Think, think, think. There was only one solution. I rose the kunai to my hair decisively and chopped it off, which freed me up to untwist my arm and plunge the knife into the unsuspecting man's stomach. My hair fell from his fist in a shower of black as he hit the ground. There was time to sulk over the loss of my hair later.

The sword wielder didn't waste a lot of time before charging at me in spite of his fallen comrade. He wasn't a very fast person, though, and blocking his strikes was easy. It was pretty obvious that he hadn't been working with a sword for as long as someone like me had been. The only thing I could give him credit for was not leaving many opening for me to strike back, which was frustrating. Finally, an opening arose. An attack from above left him completely unprotected from my feet kicking his legs out from under him.

As the third and final guy hit the ground, his pained grunt was overshadowed by another sound; the cocking of a shutter. I returned my attention to the blonde-haired man in shock and horror to see him with a barrel of a silver pistol to Kaoru's temple.

"A Shinobi with a gun?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Drop your weapon." He said as his three accomplices slowly rose back up. I took in Kaoru's expression, contorted in pain and fear as he struggled against the blonde man. "Stop fighting, punk!" He hit Kaoru with the gun, then pointed it at me. "I said drop your weapon!" The blonde put the gun back to Kaoru's temple. "I'm not afraid to pull the trigger."

I nearly threw the kunai, holding up my hands to show I had obeyed.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru cried out, struggling fiercely against Tamaki.

"Hikaru, you need to quiet down." Tamaki clamped his hand over Hikaru's mouth. "She needs to focus. You saw how she was fighting those other guys. I'm sure she can handle this, too. Besides, don't you remember what she said the first day she came to the Host Club?"

Hikaru stopped fighting. _'You don't understand how I feel. I hope you never do. Losing someone dear to you hurts so much, and I won't ever let you know that pain if I can help it.' _

"Yeah..." Hikaru mumbled as Tamaki released him. "I remember."

Tamaki placed a hand on Hikaru's shoulder. "She'll protect Kaoru. We just have to believe in her."

After overhearing that conversation, there was no way I could fail. I just needed a plan to get within range without causing him to shoot.

I saw the fist of one of the others coming with plenty of time to dodge, but I didn't. I feared what consequences fighting back would bring. My head snapped painfully to the side. Another of the men smashed his elbow into my spine, immediately followed by the third kneeing me in the stomach. I coughed up blood, falling to my knees with a small whimper of pain.

Heavy footfall alerted me to the approach of the blonde man. I looked up at him, wiping blood from my chin.

"This is what you get," he growled, "for trying to be a hero just like your pathetic brother!" He kicked me in the jaw, my head whipping to the side with an audible crack.

It was time to make my move. I ignored the pain and placed my hand on another kunai. As I swiftly stood back up, I sliced straight up his gun arm, causing him to cry out in pain and surprise. The gun went off, but the bullet hit the wall. In one fluid motion, I grabbed Kaoru's wrist, yanked him free of the blonde man, and pulled him behind me.

"Stay close to me." I spoke quickly. "I'll get you out of the way of their attacks, so don't panic. If I can't move quick enough, I'll protect you with my body. You need to trust me and remain calm. Got it?"

After a glance at his brother's tense expression, I felt him nod. "I've got it."

The blonde man, clutching his arm, glared at me with unrestricted hatred burning in his eyes. "You..."  
He spat, further narrowing his eyes. "You really shouldn't have done that." Kaoru tensed up in fear, sticking a little closer. "Now you're both going to die."

"We'll just see about that." I challenged calmly, ready for any attack they could throw at me- at us.

"Boss, we need to do something!" Hikaru trembled with rage, flinching every time one of those guys got close to Miyuki and Kaoru.

Miyuki punched one of the guys in the face, and placed a hand to Kaoru's chest, shoving him backward and out of the way of a kunai that zoomed right past where his head had been.

"She seems to be handling things well." Tamaki winced as he tried, yet again, to stand. He was acting calm and collected, but the truth of it was that he agreed with Hikaru. They continued to watch as she pulled him behind her again taking a punch to the face and countering with a kick to the stomach.

Four ninja stars flew straight for Kaoru. Knowing she wouldn't be fast enough to get him out of the way, Miyuki ran between Kaoru and the stars, throwing up her hands to protect her vital organs. Three of them hit while the other went straight past them both.

_'I'll protect Kaoru with my life.'_ "So she really meant it..."

Faster. I needed to be faster or one of those close calls could actually get him hurt. I was already wounded, but so were they. I was getting tired, but they were slowing down as well.

My body moved quicker than my mind could keep up with. Instinct took over as I fought to keep Kaoru safe.

My brother told me one time: _"One always becomes their strongest when fighting for someone precious to them." _He was more correct than I knew at the time. A slash of my kunai, move Kaoru out of the way, dodge another fist, a kick here, a punch there, and move Kaoru again. It started to become like some sort of strange, rhythmic dance. A deadly dance where one slip up could either cost me my life or get Kaoru hurt. Which would be worse...? Before I even realized it, I was left squaring off with the blonde man 1-on-1.

Before I could react, his thick hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me off the ground. I kicked him hard, my shoes thudding against his chest, but he refused to let go. He pulled out a knife in his injured arm saying in a calm tone, "You're done, kid. Say hi to your brother for me." Kaoru stood by watching with his eyes wide in worry, not knowing if he should do something or if I had a plan.

The wheels in my head were turning, but I couldn't find a way out of that one. He had me right where he wanted me, that was for sure. He certainly had nothing to lose by holding on in spite of the pain of my thrashing about and trying to get free. Maybe one of the others could help, but then again, I wouldn't want them to, and maybe they didn't even grasp that I was in so much danger. It didn't matter. It was too late anyway. I closed my eyes in fear as I saw the knife moving toward me, and let out a strangled cry of pain as it went into my arm.

I opened my eyes and tried to see why he had not aimed for anything vital. Someone else had joined the fight, managing to grab the blonde's wrist at the last minute and knock the knife off course.

"Tama-Chan Kick!" I heard Tamaki cry before coming out of no where and landing a powerful kick to the other blonde's stomach. The man winced and fell backward, dropping me as he did. I managed to land on my feet clutching my arm. Looking around, I noticed that five other ninja had joined the battle. They were ninja dressed in gray armor with white animal shaped masks streaked with red designs. One of them placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling off his mask just enough for me to see his face.

I gaped at the person behind the mask as his green eyes held mine with concern. "Sho-Senpai..."


	12. The War is Only Beginning

Sho fixed his mask back in place over his face "Are you and the others okay?"

I glanced over at the others. Hikaru ran over to Tamaki to assist him in standing since the warrior prince's leg had been injured during the fight. Both of them had pretty minor scratches and bruises. Kaoru's head was the only injury he had sustained, although he was trembling slightly. "A little banged up..." A wave of pain shot up my arm as I attempted to move it. I suppressed a wince. "But I think we're all okay."

"Good." Sho nodded and watched his team handle the enemies. "We can take it from here. Good work, Miyu-Chan. Isami would be very proud."

"I know." I smiled softly and turned to Kaoru. "Get to Hikaru, okay? He was worried sick."

"Miyuki, why did you-"

"Shush." I placed a finger to his lips. "We can talk about it later. Go see Hikaru." I turned him around and lightly pushed him in the right direction. Once he was out of ear shot and being held close by both Hikaru and Tamaki, I turned my attention back to Sho. "Senpai, what is it that you're not telling me?"

He didn't look at me as he spoke- not that I could see his eyes at all through his mask. "It's not that we're hiding it from you, it's just that we don't have any information to give you."

The doors to the dinning hall burst open and the rest of the Host Club entered with unintelligible exclamations of concern. "Is there anything you can tell me?"

We watched as the three boys explained what had happened, all talking at once and motioning crazily with their hands. "The organization these guys work for, from what we understand, sprung up rather recently. As I'm sure you've figured out, this organization wants your family eliminated. There are a lot of things we can't figure out still, such as why, or if your family is the only target."

I returned my attention to Sho with a sad smile. "I'm never going to be safe, am I?"

"Not until we can stop them." He stated frankly. "We're hoping these guys can give us some answers."

"I'll get you, Miyuki Sato!" The blonde man cried out in rage as Sho's comrades dragged him away. "You will not defeat us! We will prevail!" I made a mental note of those plural pronouns he used.

"You shouldn't stay here much longer, Miyuki..." I could tell when Sho wanted me to take what he was saying very seriously when he referred to me as Miyuki and not Miyu-Chan. Sho pressed a roll of bandages in my hand and started slowly walking away. "You can't protect them forever."

My gaze fell to the floor. "I know, Sho-Senpai, I know."

"If you ever need any help, come back to the village, okay?" There was an undertone of begging in his voice rather than commanding.

"It's me they're after..." I said to myself as Sho and the other vanished.

I looked down at myself, taking inventory of my wounds. I cautiously took hold of the shuriken still in my arm. As the adrenaline of the battle died down, I was finally feeling the pain of the weapons- one in my arm, one in my leg, and the last in my shoulder- had caused. I winced slightly as I removed the blades from my skin, tossing them aside and quickly bandaging the wounds as I did. I was almost thankful I had decided not to take them out before I could manage to stop the bleeding; there was less blood-loss involved that way. Before I could throw away the last one, something caught my attention. There was a strange pattern on the edge of all the sharp sides. The random jagged lines had no apparent pattern, but at the same time looked increasingly familiar the more I studied them. I couldn't shake the feeling that I should hang on to the weapon and scrutinize it more later. So I kept that one.

My jaw was killing me, and I had to keep reminding myself to take deep breaths. Blood from that final knife wound trickled down my arm and dripped off of my finger tips forming a small puddle next to my feet. I wrapped a thick layer of the bandage around it and turned my face to the sky outside the window wondering if Isami had seen me. The rays of sunshine seemed unusually unfocused.

_Did you see me, Niisan? Did you see me protect Kaoru? Just like you protected me. I finally understand what you meant that night when you told me about what it means to be brave. I'm going to spend my life trying to make you proud of me... Just not right this second... I'm too tired right now. I'll just close my eyes for a moment..._

I heard the shocked gasps of the Hosts as I dropped to my knees and then hit the ground. The tile felt so cold against my face. That was all that mattered at the moment. That and a familiar voice that whispered softly in my ear, "I'm so proud of you." But I'm pretty sure that was only my imagination...

XxXxXxXx

I felt myself moving, being carried by someone. The person's scent was familiar, so I knew I didn't need to panic. Opening my eyes slowly, I saw one of my arms wrapped around a stuffed pink rabbit while the injured one hung limply. Somehow finding the strength to do so, I looked up at who was holding me. His golden-brown eyes flickered to mine when he felt me move.

"I can walk, Kaoru." My voice was strained and faint; even I was surprised by the sound of it.

He gave me a sweet smile with a hint of relief. "You're lying." He stated plainly, refusing to let me get away with it so easily. "You saved my life; this is the least I can do for you."

I heard two pairs of footsteps behind me. One of them was limping, so I could easily tell that it was Tamaki. Kyoya's voice came from that direction making it clear who was helping Tamaki. "I've contacted an ambulance from one of my father's hospitals. You'll all be very well taken care of there."

I blinked slowly, staring out the window again. "Thank you, Senpai."

"Miyuki...?" I looked up at the source of the voice- Hikaru- who was standing understandably closer to his brother. "You didn't just say you'd protect Kaoru with your life; you proved it. Thank you..."

He wouldn't meet my eyes, either feeling shame at having doubted me, or maybe at the fact that he couldn't have been of more help. "Of course I meant what I said." I gave him a smile when he finally met my eyes. "We're a family now. We need to look out for each other."

He simply blinked at me in astonishment. I waved a hand to get Honey's attention. "Honey-Senpai, do you want Usa-Chan back?"

"It's fine." He said with a characteristically sweet smile. "You can hold onto him until you get better!"

I held the rabbit a little tighter. "Thank you."

"Oh my!" Came hushed whispers from the people we passed in the halls.

"Is this another of the Host Club's themes?"

"Why is Master Tamaki limping?"

"What's wrong with Miyuki? Why is Kaoru carrying her?"

"I heard something happened in the club room earlier today, but no one told me someone got hurt!"

As we approached the front doors- outside which the ambulances would be waiting- we ran into another problem: Cameras. Apparently when there's an attack on a fancy, rich-kid school like Ouran, people tend to want to hear all about it. Reporters were asking questions, cameras were flashing, the crowd was crowding in closer and closer. I closed my eyes and hid my face in the crook of Kaoru's neck trying to block it all out.

Above all the noise, I heard Hikaru begin to shout. "Get out of the way!" He started pushing people aside trying to clear a path for us. "Move it! Can't you see they're hurt? Get out of the way!" I heard Mori, Honey, and Haruhi join in his efforts to get people to move.

I looked up for a moment to whisper in Kaoru's ear. "I'm really sorry about all of this... I had no idea that they'd be back for me."

"It's okay-"

"No, it really isn't okay." I cut him off. The last thing I needed at that moment was his sympathetic acceptance of my apology. "You guys could have gotten seriously hurt. I don't want to see you get hurt..." I closed my eyes and went back to hiding my face.

"You were a hero today, Miyuki." I gasped slightly looking up at him in complete speechlessness. "Just like Isami. There's no shame in that."

Without warning, I pecked his cheek softly and then returned to hiding my face once more. "Thank you." I mumbled into his shoulder.

Finally, we managed to get outside the school. The sun was still blindingly bright, so I kept my face hidden as a man with a black suit and glasses approached us and addressed Kyoya. "Master Kyoya, bring the injured this way."

Kaoru placed me gently on one of the stretchers. "Is this the girl Master Kyoya told us about?" One the the nurses asked. Kaoru only nodded curtly. "Got it."

I didn't like the bustling of all the strangers. Trusting my health in the hands of all those people I didn't know set me on edge. Kaoru squeezed my hand, silently reassuring me that everything would be okay. I hugged Usa-Chan tighter as his hand left mine and the stretcher was wheeled away.

Once the doors closed, all sound from the outside world stopped suddenly. I was kind of thankful. It wasn't silent, but it was quiet. I actually managed to get some sleep during the ride. Why was Kaoru the only thing I could dream about...?


	13. Invitation

All four of us were released from the hospital by that evening. Tamaki's leg required a cast, but he got one of those boots so that he could get around easier. Other than that, he had a few scratches and bruises, but they were all easily covered by his uniform. The injury won him lots of attention once he started hosting again.

Kaoru had a bump on his head that, once the adrenaline died down, left him with a major head ache. We were all thankful that it hadn't been worse.

Hikaru, who gave me far too much credit for the safekeeping of his brother considering I was the reason he was in that mess to begin with, ended up with a black eye and two broken fingers. It made him look very tough. There was no denying that all three of them were, though.

As soon as I was released, which was a few hours after the others, I was immediately sentenced to bed rest. For three straight days, I had to sit in bed and do absolutely nothing. It was _torture!_

For one thing, I hated sitting still. I couldn't disobey even if I wanted to, because the shuriken wound in my leg still hurt even all that time later. Spending the entire school day alone left me with too much time to think. The one thought that I kept going back to was this: They'll never be safe a long as I stay.

The attackers knew what I was capable of. They also knew to what lengths I was willing to go to defend my friends. The next attackers would be stronger than the last. "_You can't protect them forever."_ Sho's words rung in my head constantly tormenting me with the undeniable truth they held

I gripped the fabric of the blanket in a trembling fist, startling Antoinette, Tamaki's adorable golden retriever who he had ordered to keep me company, with my growl of rage and total helplessness. No matter how much I tried or how much I thought, there was only one solution, and that was to leave- the absolute last thing I wanted to do.

But... that's being selfish, isn't it? I would be willing to gamble with the lives of my replacement family for the sake of my own happiness? If they're in constant danger, how long could that happiness honestly last? When everything was said and done, would the hosts resent me for making a choice that placed happiness above safety?

I spent days trying to rationalize staying, but there was no possible way. The only thing left to decide at the end of the day would always be how soon I should leave.

Thinking about it made me miserable, but I tried to perk up when Tamaki arrived home. He would come into my room and tell me all about his day. It was sweet of him to try so desperately to keep me entertained and in the loop, so I tried to stay cheery when he visited.

Business for the Host Club had increased after the story of the "_Attack on the Elite Ouran Academy" _aired on the news. For the record, they totally got the story wrong! They made me out to seem like some helpless little princess who was lucky to have the brave, valiant Host Club there to come to her rescue. I could have been wrong, but I was pretty sure it hadn't happened that way. Nevertheless, they got no interviews since we had majorly failed at agreeing on a story that we all liked and wasn't full of holes. Due to that, more people had started going to the Club to see if they could get someone to spill what had really happened. Everyone kept their mouths shut aside from the twins who, since they had nothing else to do, spread so many false rumors that no one would believe the truth even if we told them. The whole thing was the tactical plan of the Shadow King.

XxXxMeanwhile, at the Host Club...XxXx

"Tama-Chan?" Tamaki looked up from what he was doing to arch an eyebrow at Honey. "How is Miyu-Chan doing?"

Those four simple words had the power to silence everything in the room. The twins' bickering ceased, Kyoya's typing came to a halt, Haruhi's pencil left the paper it had been diligently writing on, and every pair of eyes was on the Host Club's king.

He gave them all a comforting smile, immediately keying in on the change in atmosphere in the room. "Miyuki is doing just fine." He decided to say, although it wasn't entirely true. "She's been resting in bed the past few days. Though I must say, she hasn't seemed like herself lately."

"What do you think is on her mind?" Haruhi questioned, abandoning her homework to join Tamaki on one of the couches.

"Guilt." Kaoru said simply before he could stop himself. Everyone's eyes shifted to the younger twin, silently willing him to tell them what he knew that no one else seemed to. He swallowed hard and placed a shaky hand on his brother's shoulder. "Those people, well, they were actually after her, not me. She feels responsible for all of this."

"I'm worried about her..." Tamaki admitted softly. "Would you guys come home with me today and pay her a visit? I'm sure it'll lift her spirits."

All the other hosts gave their approval.

"There's something else that I should mention..." Kaoru said quietly, too quietly that no one heard him but Hikaru, who gave him a questioning glance. "Uh- never mind. I'll tell you about it later."

XxXxX

The fourth day of my bed-rest/ isolation, Tamaki took pity on me and invited the rest of the hosts to come visit. Seeing them made my heart clench, but I faked a smile just the same.

"Yes!" I cheered, pumping my fist into the air, "Someone to talk to besides Tamaki and the dog!"

"Miyu-Chan!" Honey cried happily, leaping into my outstretched arms.

"Hey, Honey-Senpai!" I laughed slightly.

Honey retreated so that everyone else could say hello, too. Mori gave me a tiny smile and nod, which I readily returned, before following after Honey.

"Lots of customers have asked about you." Kyoya said, all business as usual.

"You should really hear some of the stories going around." Haruhi glanced at Hikaru and Kaoru with a rare smile."They're even crazier than what actually happened."

"What happened was pretty nuts to begin with." I chuckled.

Both of the twins kept silent and, with unreadable expressions, kept staring at me. "How are you two feeling? Come closer, Hikaru, let me see your eye." They took a step towards me in sync. Upon close inspection, they seemed to be holding something behind their backs. "Oh, no. What are you two up to?"

They both gave me huge, identical smiles. "As a thank you for risking your life for us," they said in unison, each pulling a red rose out from behind his back that they held out to me, "please come to dinner at our house tonight." They cocked their heads to opposite sides waiting in anticipation.

"May I, Niichan?" All three of us turned to Tamaki with pleading, puppy-dog eyes.

He let out a sigh, feigning impatience. A soft smile spread across his face. "I suppose that will be alright."

And just like that, my only possible excuse not to go was gone. I gave a sincere smile while internally promising to leave for good the following night. I did kind of owe it to them anyway. "Then I accept your offer."

"A car will be here to pick you up at six." Hikaru said, placing his rose on my lap then retreating to the door to wait for his brother.

Kaoru took my hand in his and kissed it before wrapping my fingers around his flower. "Make sure you wear something really pretty. Our mom is a fashion designer after all." Then he moved toward the door to meet Hikaru.

"Wait, wait, wait. " I waved my hands in the air as they looked back at me. "Your mom is going to be there?"

"Of course." They said at the same time. "Our dad, too." Their smiles, as usual, mimicked each other. "They're both excited to meet the girl who saved out lives."

I found myself unsure if I should be excited or worried as Hikaru and Kaoru took their leave. "Oh great..." I muttered, "Niichan, will you please help me?"

"Yeah, of course." He took my wrist and led me out of the bed room as the others followed. "Let's see if we can't help my dear little sister feel like the princess that she truly is."


	14. Stranger in the Mirror

Kaoru leaned back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, quietly mulling over the conversation he had had with Sho when the latter visited him in the hospital. It had always been in the back of his mind, but he didn't think much of it until Tamaki had mentioned Miyuki was acting strange.

_The younger twin was staring at his sleeping brother deep in thought when a soft knock brought his attention to the door. Sho was standing there looking as if he was in a hurry. "Sho-Senpai, what are you doing here?" Kaoru questioned in a whisper as to not wake Hikaru._

"_There's something you should know." Slowly, he crossed the room until he was standing at Kaoru's bedside. "It's about Miyuki." Kaoru leaned in slightly, intense concentration showing on his face. "I just wanted to warn you not to get too attached to her. Odds are, she won't be around much longer."_

_Hikaru sat up suddenly. "What do you mean by that?" He questioned, staring at Sho with half-closed eyes._

"_It's just that- How do I word this..." Sho trailed off, a thoughtful look on his face as he stared holes through the wall he knew Miyuki was on the other side off. "That girl is one who will only lay down her life for someone truly important to her. Up until now, that list of people consisted of her family and me. Because she was taught to suppress her emotions, she's totally unaware that she cares so much for the people close to her that she's willing to throw away her life for them. She is aware that she needs to protect her loved ones, but she hasn't really realized why she wants to." He locked eyes with each of the twins, a blank expression overtaking his features. "The point I'm trying to make is that she has a choice to make, and you can bet she's not going to factor emotions- yours or her's- into the equation. If you look at the situation through her eyes, what would you decide?"_

Hikaru returned to the room rubbing a towel around his damp hair. "Are you still thinking about what Sho-Senpai said?" He questioned, instantly keying in on his brother's discontent mood.

"Do you think she's going to leave us?" Kaoru asked quietly, slight pain lacing his voice.

Hearing that immediately brought Hikaru to his side. "Why would she do that? You heard what Sho-Senpai said: she really cares about us."

"But he also said that she probably won't be taking that into consideration." Kaoru buried his face in his hands in frustration.

There was something that Hikaru had been wanting to ask of his brother for a while, and then seemed like the perfect time to bring it up. "Kaoru, do you-"

A knock at the door stopped Hikaru mid-sentence. One of the servants entered the room with a friendly smile. "Hello, young Masters. You wanted me to inform you when we were about to send the car to the Suoh mansion."

"Gah!" Kaoru sprung up from the bed swiftly, dashing into the closet. "I'm not even dressed yet!"

Hikaru let out a sigh, deciding to leave the conversation for later.

XxXxXxX

Staring into the mirror, I didn't recognize the person staring back at me.

"I know it's not really your style," Tamaki carefully fixed one of the roses the twins had given me in my hair, "but even you can't deny that you look stunning."

The dress that the stranger in the mirror was wearing was a deep purple and fell just above her knees. The spaghetti-strap sleeves did nothing to hide the cuts and busies still marring the girl's skin. A pure white sash was tied around her waist that perfectly matched the stockings that she wore. Her shoes were simple, black flats, a white bracelet adorned her wrist, and a black scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck. Of course she wore her dog tags and silver key, which almost went without saying.

She drew closer to the mirror softly touching her face that had little make-up on, since Kaoru had told her that very first day that she could be really pretty even without a lot of make-up. Then her hand traveled to her hair, which was a little shorter than shoulder length. She tugged on it softly as her friends patiently awaited her reaction.

The girl in the mirror chuckled at the same time I did. "It's so short..."

"The car is out front, Miyu-Chan!" Honey informed me, bounding back into the room.

"I guess I'll be off then." I turned away from the stranger with a soft smile at the others. "I don't know when I'll be back though.

"Take care, Miyu-Chan!" Honey cheered sweetly.

"Yeah." Mori agreed.

"Don't worry if you come home late." Tamaki reassured me.

Haruhi bitterly told me, "Try not to get lost in their mansion."

Kyoya uttered an uncaring, "Have a nice time."

As they said their last good byes, I hurried down the stairs as to not keep the Hitachiin's waiting too long.

"Bye!" I called as I ran out the door.

XxXxOne car ride laterXxXx

The mansion that we pulled up to was unsurprisingly huge. A servant of theirs opened the door before I even had a chance to knock. He was on the younger side with brown hair and brown eye and a friendly smile.

"Welcome, Lady Miyuki!"

I waved him a little closer so I could whisper something to him. His smile faded, replaced by a look of curiosity as he obliged. "I'm kind of worried about meeting their parents." I whispered softly. "Do you have any advice for me?"

The smile returned to his face as he pulled away. "There's no need to worry, Lady Miyuki. They already like you because of what you did for Master Hikaru and Master Kaoru."

I gave a soft sigh, finally managing to relax a little. "Everyone seems to be making a big deal about what I did. Any one of you would have done the same."

"Even still," He said, giving me a slight bow, "thank you, from all of us, for saving our young masters' lives."

"Wow..." I heard two awe-struck voices breath. Looking up at the source, I saw Hikaru and Kaoru standing on top of the stairs, looking down on me with golden-brown eyes wide.

The three of us paused a moment to take each other in. I didn't often see them not wearing their Ouran uniforms, and it was a refreshing change. Kaoru's outfit consisted of a black dress-shirt worn under a black vest and a white tie that matched the jacket he wore, and a pair of nice black pants. Hikaru's shirt, vest, tie, and jacket were the exact opposite color of Kaoru's.

"You look fantastic, Miyuki." They both said, huge smiles spreading across their faces.

I gave them a toothy grin. "Thank you for inviting me. You have a lovely home."

They descended the elegant staircase, each of them placing a hand on my should and leading me into another room. "Come with us." Hikaru- who stood to my right- said.

Kaoru- on my left- concluded his brother's thought. "We'll introduce you to our parents."

The place they led me to was a little outdoor patio. Two people sat on some fancy outdoor furniture chatting quietly. When they heard us approach, they immediately stopped and looked up at us. "Miyuki is here." The twins announce, lightly pushing me forward in the direction of their parents who stood to greet me.

"It's so nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin." I gave a polite smile and held my hand out to shake hands with them.

Mrs. Hitachiin, a very pretty, slender woman with short, lighter colored hair, ignored my hand completely and pulled me into a tight hug. "I can never thank you enough for what you did." She said in my ear, sounding on the verge of tears.

"Thank you for protecting them." Mr. Hitachiin, a tall, quiet man with dark hair, placed a hand on my shoulder

Mrs. Hitachiin held me at arms length and looked me over. "Oh my, you really are just as pretty as the boys said you were." She gave me a bright smile, carefully fixing the flower in my hair, then my scarf.

I blushed lightly, looking at the ground. "Thank you, Ma'am."

In that instant, all of my fears were dissolved. All throughout dinner, the conversation was lively and continuous- no awkward pauses or anything of the sort. I could easily tell that the twins took after their mother, though they tried to convince me that they took after their father. What a laugh that was. Either way, that young servant at the door had been right to tell me not to worry. Everything had gone better than expected.


	15. I Love You

After dinner was over, the twins and I went for a walk in a garden on their property. It was a peaceful night as we sat on a bench in silence and watched the stars.

"Hikaru? Kaoru?" I said quietly, not taking my eyes off the stars.. They looked up at me with curious expressions. "Your parents are very kind. It was very nice of them to invite me here."

"Why did you do it, Miyuki?" The both questioned quietly.

I paused for a long moment, slowly turning my eyes to theirs as I pondered my response carefully. "Because you guys are important to me." I stated as if it were common knowledge.

Kaoru stood up from the bench and slowly walked over to where I sat. Unexpectedly, he gripped the fabric of my scarf in his fists and shook me lightly as he shouted, "You could have gotten hurt, you idiot! Tamaki never would have forgiven us if we let something happen to you. No one asked you to be a hero, Miyuki!"

"Hmm..." My face remained emotionless as I looked up into his serious eyes and Hikaru looked on in shock. "So that's what that felt like." He released me, surprise written on his face as I smoothed the soft fabric back into place. "Although, I must say, I expect a reaction such as that from Hikaru more then you." I turned to Hikaru with a soft smile. "No offense, Hikaru."

"It's fine." He mumbled, still seeming baffled by his brother's outburst.

"Miyuki," Kaoru said in a softer tone more characteristic of him, "what you did was very foolish and dangerous."

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down on the bench between his brother and me. "I know that, but I had to be brave. If you had seen the look in your brother's eyes, you'd understand why I had to do everything in my power to protect you." Kaoru looked at his brother's sad smile and then back at me with understanding in his eyes. "Besides, you have all been looking out for me. I had become very dependent on you. It was long past time for me to stand on my own two feet again."

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us you're a Shinobi." There was a hint of awe in Hikaru's voice as he said that.

"You never asked." I gave a coy smile, "It's not like I was hiding it."

They both rolled their eyes at me with a slight smile playing at their lips. "Okay, but it's still pretty cool."

All of a sudden, with very little warning, rain began pouring down. Apparently, the clouds had moved in after we stopped keeping our eyes on the sky. The two of them sprung up from the bench laughing and pulled me to my feet. Each taking one of my hands, they led me through the confusing garden with practiced ease. After some amount of time, the three of us burst through the side glass door and collapsed to the ground giggling and grinning ear to ear.

The young servant from earlier came over with towels for us, and we managed to stop laughing long enough to realize that we were freezing. So the three of us huddled together in the towels until someone made us some warm tea and we could sit near a fire. That was how we spent the rest of the night. It was peaceful in all honesty, but time flew by quickly, and before any of us knew it, it was pretty late. We could tell by the fact that none of us could stop yawning.

As they walked me to the door, I was struck by the fact that, after that moment, I would probably never see either of them again. Or the other hosts for that matter. Yet I had given them such a pathetic good bye as I left the mansion. Faced with that truth, I grew very silent.

"What's wrong?" They asked as we reached the front door. "You're suddenly being very somber."

I met both of their eyes, hesitating because I didn't want to lie to them. I decided to change the subject. "I want to show you something really cool. It's called sign language- talking with your hands. This sign here-" I held up my hand with my palm facing them, my thumb, pointer finger, and pinky sticking up while the other two were down- "means 'I love you.'"

They mimicked me perfectly, looked back and forth between their hands and each other, then back to me with huge grins. "Sweet."

I swallowed hard, preparing myself for the dramatic good bye. "Thank you guys. For everything that you've done for me." Words started tumbling from my mouth before I even had time to think about them. "Thank you for doing my hair when we first met, and coming to the sleep over, and the library, and coming after me when you thought I had run off because of your stupid prank, and giving me little jobs to do around the club, and finding me when the lights went out-"

"Miyuki!" They shouted, cutting off my little rant.

"You're acting like we're never going to see each other again..." Kaoru pointed out with a sorrowful expression that caused a sharp pain in my chest.

My eyes fell to the splint still on two of the older twins fingers. "The other day..." I said softly, placing a hand over the bandage still covering my wounded arm, "could have ended very badly. I was just thinking that I never got a chance to thank you. So thank you." I mumbled, not meeting their eyes as I tried to decipher the cause of the pain in my chest.

Suddenly, I was sandwiched between the two of them, both of them hugging me close. "Thank you." They whispered for about the hundredth time.

When they finally let me go, they held the door open for me to leave. I walked very slowly out the door, watching the driver exit the car and hold open the door for me.

"Good night, Miyuki!" They chimed brightly, unaware that I was fighting to keep the pain in my chest from showing on my face.

I turned to look at them one last time. The two mischievous twins with the auburn hair and the amber eyes who stood side-by-side smiling big and both holding up the sigh for 'I love you.'

I returned the sign with a pained, "Good bye." I couldn't take it any longer, so I practically ran to the car. The windows were tinted black, so the twins couldn't tell I wasn't waving back at them as the car pulled away. Once I could no longer see the huge house was when the tears started flowing.

"Don't tell them please." I whispered to the driver as I buried my face in my hands.

"As you wish, Lady Miyuki." He responded with a sympathetic tone in his voice, although he had no idea why my heart was so broken.

XxXxback at the Suoh mansionXxXx

Upon arriving back at the mansion, I stood outside and stared at it for a few moments. The next night I would be leaving, once again allowing those scum to take my life away from me.

My beloved second brother peeked out from behind a curtain, and vanished only to reappear a few seconds later holding open the door.

"Welcome home." A tired smile was on his face. "I thought I heard you pull up. How did it go?"

I paused for a long moment as the smile faded from his face. "Hikaru and Kaoru were the perfect hosts." I said with a sly grin. "Good job with them, Niichan." I patted him on the shoulder as I walked by into the house. "Good night."

"Good night." He responded, the smile in his voice nearly audible as he shut the door behind me.

In the privacy of my room, I clutched my chest, clenching my teeth at the pain ever present in my chest. Once I had managed to ignore it, I checked to make sure that all my things were packed and ready to go for the next night; the last night.

XxXxThe following morningXxXx

I got up before my princely replacement brother, which was surprising considering how early he usually got up. I simply made myself some tea and watched the sun rise.

It was a cool morning. A soft wind blew white clouds, silhouetted by the colors of the rising sun, along in the sky. I thought about my family, as I often did, as I took slow sips from the expensive cup. Then my mind wandered to what I was going to do after I left. Where would I go? How would I deal with the new organization bent on my destruction? Would I ever see my replacement family again?

Unlike most peaceful moments since my family passed away, I spent that moment devising a plan. I managed to come up with this: I would head back to the village and see what Sho had learned about that organization from the blonde man, and, using whatever information I had acquired, would set out on a self-assigned mission to shut that organization down. It wasn't for the sake of revenge, though. Killing the people who took my family from me- twice no less- would do me no good. I just wanted to be safe and possibly keep that organization from hurting anyone else.

There was a soft knock at the door, jolting me from my thoughts. I turned to see Tamaki's smiling face peering at me. "Good morning, Miyuki." He came out onto the deck uninvited, knowing I wouldn't care. "Are you feeling better today?"

"Yeah," I smiled and offered him some tea, which he politely refused. "All healed up I'd say."

"I was thinking," he placed his hand to his chin, staring out at the rising sun with thoughtful eyes, "maybe you and I could have a brother-sister day. What do you think?" He turned his gaze to mine with an excited look in his eyes. "Just the two of us hanging out before you leave."

I tensed up quickly, turning my gaze back to the horizon. "How did you know?" I asked softly, slight awe in my voice.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Even someone as clueless as me can tell that you haven't been the same the past few days. That coupled with everything that's happened- well, I just managed to put two and two together."

I looked down at my cup of tea. "I guess I'm a little more transparent than I thought, huh? You win, we'll have a brother-sister day." I said with a soft sigh. "I suppose it's the least I can do."


	16. Brother-Sister Day

Tamaki and I spent the entire day together, starting with an exciting street fair. By the end of the day, we found ourselves on the beach, looking out at the setting sun. We sat on a blanket in the sand under the shade of a red, blue, and yellow stripped umbrella. The conversation drifted to different topics, but eventually we started reminiscing about the short time we had spent together.

"Remember a little while ago- I believe it was the second day I went to the club- when I wasn't feeling well?" I questioned the blonde quietly, taking a sudden interest in the waves.

A soft laugh shook his shoulders as he held a bottle of water out to me. "I remember... That was certainly an interesting afternoon."

"A person has one slight little fever and suddenly it's the end of the world." I muttered with a smirk and a roll of my eyes.

"You should have thought of that before you spent all those nights not sleeping." He countered bluntly, earning a small sigh from me.

"But was having Mori-Senpai carry me all the way back to the car really necessary?" My hands absently dug into the soft sand just outside the blanket's edge, my gaze still fixed on the ocean. "Although it was kind of them to all visit after club. And when I heard you play the piano for the first time..." I mused quietly, a more sincere smile crossing my face. "And everyone got in trouble because we all just fell asleep there."

The blonde chuckled softly, closing his eyes as if to see the memory better. "It was certainly one of those rare, peaceful moments we shared." He agreed. "What about when you went to the Morinozuka mansion?"

My eyes grew wide in excitement. "That is one of the biggest training fields I've ever seen!" I let out a heavy sigh, the smile slipping from my face for a moment. "It feels like we've been friends for years... There are certainly enough memories to last a life time." Tamaki gave a silent nod of agreement.

Silence fell over us, the air tense and swimming with mixed emotions. Finally, he broke the silence with an innocent questioning of, "When are you leaving?" I could swear I heard a hint of pain behind the casual tone he took.

I hesitated, glancing at the sun as it began to vanish behind the horizon. "I'll be gone before morning." I bravely met his eyes, the bright purple orbs brimming with sorrow. "I wasn't going to leave without saying good bye to you." I managed quietly.

"That's good to know." He said honestly, a sad smile playing at his lips.

"Who else knows?" I asked in a whisper, as if trying not to be overheard.

"I haven't told anyone." He assured me loyally. I simply gave a silent nod, not really caring either way. Even if they did know, I'd still leave. I still had no other options.

"Will you tell them that I'll miss them? And why I'm leaving? I don't want them not to know..." I trailed off, my voice betraying some of my sorrow.

"I'll pass along the message."

"Do I need to explain why I'm going?"

"No, I understand."

"Wait until tomorrow to tell them. It'll be very hard to leave if they're begging me to stay."

"I will."

"Thank you, Tamaki."

"For?"

"Not begging me to stay." There was a long pause after I uttered that last line. Both of us kept our eyes on the ocean, refusing to look away from the calming view. The sun cast beautiful colors across the shimmering ocean as it started to vanish on the last day. I sighed at it unhappily. "Can we go back soon?"

He glanced at his phone for a moment first before giving me an answer. "Yeah, let's get going." He stood up from the blanket, holding his hand out for mine, his characteristic smile returning. Only he could manage to bring a smile to my face at a moment like that. I took his hand, allowing him to pull me to my feet.

"Okay, let's go!" I cheered, letting out a laugh as I started sprinting across the cool, smooth sand. "Race you!" I challenged, listening to him start running behind me.

"H- hey! Wait up!" He called, but he was laughing, too. We both arrived at the car and rode home, avoiding such depressing subjects as the fact that the sunset we both watched would probably be the last we shared together.

XxXxXxX

It wasn't long after we got home that I had grabbed my few possessions from the room I had cleaned that morning. Tamaki and I stood in the entryway, both unsure what to say.

"Will you ever be back?" He asked, not meeting my eyes as he tried to hide his sorrow with a smile.

"Hard to tell." I said honestly. "It depends on far too many different variables to tell for certain." Although blunt, the statement was beyond true.

"Do you... want to?" His voice broke at that question and I felt a stab of guilt.

"Please don't cry." I begged softly, reaching out and placing a hand gently on his arm. "If you cry, I might, too... Of course I want to come back. I'll do everything in my power to return one day."

He pulled me into a tight hug, holding me close to his chest as if he were holding on to some dream he was scared to lose. I felt his tears fall on my shoulder. "You take care of yourself out there."

I hugged him back, my eyes shut tightly. "I will. You take good care of the family while I'm gone, okay?"

He released me, holding me at arms length and smiling in spite of the tears. "I promise."

I thought I'd regret what I was about to do at some point, but I didn't. Not for a single second. With a practiced hand, I removed Isami's necklace, took Tamaki's hand, and wrapped his fingers around the key. "Please hold on to this for me."

"But-"

"My brother was a hero, Tamaki." I whispered, not referring to Tamaki as my brother because I thought it would make leaving easier. "And someone needs to know it besides me."

He smiled fondly, remembering easily when I had told him the same thing the first day we had met. "Well, now I know two amazing heroes." He gave me a wink. "And I intent to keep this to remember them both by."

I nodded, fighting to keep tears from my eyes. "Good." I responded curtly.

There was a long pause in the conversation. "Aren't you scared?" He meet my eyes, silently pleading for me to admit what we both knew. I was terrified, just like Isami was that fateful night.

I nodded slowly, trying to recall the exact words my brother had said to me. "But being brave is having the strength to do what's right even if you're afraid." I turned away from him in order to hide the tears in my eyes. My trebling hand gripped the door knob. There was something I had to get off my chest before I didn't have another chance. "You know what really sucks?" He didn't respond, but I knew he was listening. A sad smile crossed my lips as I confessed, "I think I love Kaoru. But I guess that doesn't matter much now."

"Should I-"

"Don't say anything. I don't need him to hurt any more." I turned to him, shamelessly showing my tear-filled eyes. "I've caused enough damage already."

"You really want to leave and possibly not come back without telling him how much you care for him?"

My hand tightened around the doorknob. "If he's going to hear it, I want it to be from me. But I don't think I could leave after that..." My lips tugged up in a small smile. "I'm just not that strong."

We both fell silent again. There was really nothing left to say between the to of us. "Thank you, Tamaki." I opened the door quickly, like taking off a band-aid, convincing myself that it would hurt less if I did it quicker. "For everything."

"It was my pleasure, my lost little princess." He said with a bow that I returned respectfully.

One last time, I took him in. The blonde haired prince with the gleaming purple eyes who loved nothing more than to make people smile. So that's what I decided to do at the time as I whispered one final, "Good bye," and shut the door for good.

After one last look at the house, I sprinted away as fast as my legs could carry me. There was a lump in my throat that made it impossible to breathe. It wasn't long before I fell to my knees out of breath.

"Calm down..." I whispered to myself taking deep breaths. "They're safe. That's all that matters."

It took me a while, but I managed to pull myself together. I rose to my feet, dusted off my knees, and started walking again.


	17. Forever and Always

I walked along the well lit streets with my eyes on the ground and my hands in my pockets. I forced myself to keep my head down as I passed the mansion Tamaki had pointed out once as Kyoya's. I had to keep going. There was still time to change my mind if I found a reason to.

Still staring at the ground, I saw two sets of feet standing in front of me. Their shadows told me exactly who it was, which is why I never looked up. "What are you two doing out? It's late."

"Waiting for you." They said in unison.

I looked up at the Hitachiin boys standing before me with a deadly serious expression. "You're not going to just let me go without a fight, are you?"

"We're taking you back home, even if it's by force." The statement was almost laughable.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, a short, bitterly impatient laugh escaping my lips. "That's not going to work. You know I could take you both."

"Y- you know, maybe she's right, Hikaru." Kaoru stammered lightly.

"Maybe we didn't think this through so well." Hikaru admitted, sounding more mystified than scared.

I reopened my eyes with a glare, a slight edge entering my voice. "Now get out of my way."  
I placed a hand on either of their shoulders and, just like when I had run off after their ridiculous prank, shoved them both out of the way. Although, I wasn't really sure as to my reasoning behind being so cold toward them.

Something happened that night that wasn't like the last time I had tried to brush them aside. They each reached out, grabbing either of my wrists and stopping me in my tracks.

"So, after everything we've been though-" Hikaru shouted, his hand tightening around my wrist almost painfully.

"You're just going to walk away without even saying good bye?" Kaoru concluded in a tone that broke my heart to pieces, making me want to just break down and stay with them forever.

I balled my hands into trembling fists and jerked my arms free, "What do you want me to do? Tell you I don't want to leave?" The pain in my heart was clear in my voice as I spun around to face them. "You know I don't want to go! I don't have a choice!" My voice grew soft as I tried to get a better handle on my emotions. "They're going to come back again, and I can't be worrying about you guys all the time. If you got hurt, especially if it was because I slipped up, I'd never forgive myself."

"So you're just going to leave?" They demanded.

"What choice do I have?" I raised my voice, willing them to listen to me carefully. "I'm sure if you guys really thought about this- I mean with our head and not your heart- you would see things the way I do. I need to leave so that I can stop them from coming back and be able to live in peace again. If I don't, how can I ever be safe?"

"We could protect you!" They insisted, not understanding what a stupid thought that truly was.

"No you can't!" I cried, allowing my annoyance at their ignorance to show on my face. "You don't understand how things work in my world. These guys are murderers. They don't care what family you're from, how much money you have, or how charming you are. They'll take you out if they have the motive. You two just don't seem to understand how different our worlds are. Let me try and put it in perspective for you. While you two have been pulling pranks and jetting off to Fiji, I've been training for war. While you two were learning multiplication tables, I was learning to throw a kunai and take down a foe twice my size. While you were going to the movies with your brother, I was risking my life for mine on a dangerous mission." I took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "I know you two wish you could protect me, but there's no way money and good looks can solve this problem. Only war and bloodshed will fix this, and I won't let you guys get caught up in the middle because you're trying to be heroes."

"We're not doing it to be heroes." Hikaru whispered, shutting his eyes tightly and gritting his teeth.

"We're doing it because we care about you." Kaoru said with a look that caused a stab of guilt to ring through me. The pain was like someone stabbing a knife through my chest and twisting it until there was nothing left worth cutting.

I swallowed hard the lump in my throat, my hand clutching the fabric covering my chest. "I care for you guys, too. That's why I'm leaving." My voice sounded small and unsure, the pain in my heart evident. Kaoru's eyes held mine for a long moment before my eyes fell to the ground. "Please don't look at me like that." I whispered as a single, silent tear slipped down my face. "It hurts."

They both pulled me into a tight hug. "Please be careful, Miyuki." They pleaded softly. I gave a determined nod, not having the strength to speak anymore.

Letting me go, I met both of their eyes. They looked close to tears as well, though they gave me a soft smile. "Let's make this quick and easy." I suggested. "On the count of three, we turn around and go our separate ways. No looking back, no long, dramatic goodbye, no tears." The two of them nodded in silent agreement, their faces set in hard masks. "One..."

"Two." Hikaru continued quietly.

"Three." Came a soft whisper from his brother. On cue, we spun around and started walking.

I hadn't walked more than five steps before I heard someone running. A body impacted mine hard, causing me to stumble slightly as his arms wrapped around my shoulders. His tears fell on my shoulder and a broken name came from his mouth: "Miyuki!" It was Kaoru's voice, choked with tears.

"You're really bad at not turning around." I said quietly, allowing my tears to fall on his arms.

"You'd better come back, do you hear me?" His voice was hushed as his brother slowly made his way back over to us. "Come back when you're getting married and we'll find you the perfect dress. One that will make your family in Heaven weep. Also so that we can make sure that whoever is waiting for you at the end of that isle knows how lucky he is."

"I wish it could be you." I blurted out without really thinking about it. A small sob escaped my lips, followed by a jumble of words. "I wish you could be the one there with me because I love you. I wasn't going to tell you because I don't want you to hurt any more, but I don't want to go without you knowing what you mean to me. I- I love you."

There was a long, painful pause as I held my breath, immediately regretting every word that had just come out of my mouth. Kaoru turned me around so that he could examine my face, searching my face as if looking for signs of deceit. Finding none, he gently moved his hands up to hold my face in them, carefully pondering his response. I locked eyes with his brother, who also seemed speechless at my confession.

"I love you, too, Miyuki." He whispered, his eyes slipping closed for a moment as he added, "I'm glad you decided to say something," before placing a soft kiss on my cheek.

"For the record," Hikaru gave me a soft smile, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I would have been really happy for you two."

Kaoru leaned his forehead against mine, gently whipping the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.

"I didn't want to tell you..." I whispered again, unsure why I was enjoying the feel of his hands against my face so much. "I didn't want to hurt you anymore..."

"_In the quiet __misty morning,"_ I gasped softly, my eyes snapping open as he sang on,_ "__when the moon has gone to bed," _A small smile appeared on my face as I hummed quietly along, _"When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red. __If you find it's me you're missing, if you're hoping I'll return. To your thoughts I'll soon be list'ning, and in the road I'll stop and turn. Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end. And the path I'll be retracing when I'm homeward bound again."_

"You learned my brother's song." I stated with a tear choked laugh. "Thank you." Those two simple words would never be enough to show how grateful I was.

"You know, it's going to get kind of cold soon." Hikaru decided, rather randomly. "You should take this jacket with you." He held a simple black hoodie out to me, both of them giving me innocent smiles.

Hesitantly, I took the cotton jacket from his hand. Then, I took off the other thing that had meant the world to me only a few weeks earlier: my dog tags. "Only if you'll hold on to these."

I held the chain out to them in a steady fist. Each of them grabbed one end, the three of us connected by the simple chain for a moment until I released it at last.

"I'm going to go now." I gave a soft smile, wanting that to be how they remembered me. "I'll be back, so this isn't good bye. Just... See you later." I nodded, thinking that to be a more appropriate way to leave things. "Please take care until I return."

"You too!" They chimed, understanding immediately what I was trying to do. "See you later."

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and turned around, humming softly as I casually strolled away.

XxXxXx

As they watched the girl walk away, Hikaru's smile faltered slightly as he whispered, "Will you be okay?"

There was a long pause as Hikaru carefully watched his brother's face. "She'll be back." He stated simply, certainty in his voice. "One day."

XxXxXx

As the night wore on, it got cold enough to put on the jacket. My hand hit something smooth and cold in the pocket, which I quickly pulled out. It was a simple white envelope with my name on it. "What the..." I whispered, opening it up in a shaky hand. Three things were in it. The first was a small pile of money. "Darn them; I didn't want to take their money..."

The second things was a folded up note. I pulled it open, reading it to myself.

"_We knew you'd be too proud to ask."_

"_Stay Safe."_

"_Go make us all proud!"_

"_You will not be forgotten."_

"_Good luck Miyu-chan!"_

"_I hope we meet again some day."_

"_Good bye, my lost princess."_

Written in large, elegant letters across the bottom of the note were the words,

_Love, _

_ The Ouran High School Host Club!_

The last thing left in the envelope was a picture of the entire family from that very first day I went to the club, dated and captioned, "_Family, forever and always."_

My hands were trembling at the amount of love I could feel emanating from the simple gesture. As my eyes watered, I carefully replaced the contents of the white envelope, put it back in the jacket pocket, and continued on with nothing more than a mumbled, "Forever and always..."

A/N: Again, a big thank you to Marta Keen for the song Homeward Bound.


	18. Epilogue

My eyes flickered back and forth between the window of the plane, and the seemingly ancient letter clutched in my hand, resting on my lap. An eternity had gone by, though it had, in actuality, only been two years. Two long years full of ups and downs, new friends as well as new rivals, defeats and victories, all leading up to the ultimate triumph over evil.

I found I wasn't alone in my quest. With the information obtained from the blonde man, I was able to conduct four single-handed interceptions of their raids- the same one that took my family from me- and save multiple lives. That was when I was approached by two of the teens I had just defended, who demanded to accompany me on my mission. Hana and his sister Kai became my most trusted allies. I spoke of the Host Club so often in the year and a half we spent together that both of them could almost swear they had been there.

The thought of Hana brought my gaze to my right ring finger, and, more specifically, the simple diamond ring still wrapped around it. Silent guilt seized my heart as the events of that night flashed through my brain once again.

_My hands flew up to protect my vital organs, as I had realized I would never succeed in dodging the attack. My muscles were tense, braced for the pain, but it never came. I felt some warm drops splatter my cheek. Slowly, I opened my eyes and_ _stared at the brunette standing in front of me with an uncomprehending expression. Sudden realization and horror flashed across my blood spattered face- blood that belonged to my loyal second in command. "Hana..." I whispered in disbelief. My tear-filled eyes found their way to the sword going through his chest that had stopped mere inches from my face. "No..."_

_He looked over his shoulder at me, his characteristic smile still in place, though his honey-colored eyes showed the pain. "A- are you okay, Miyuki-Sama?"_

"_Are you an idiot?!" I cried, though my words held no malice. He coughed slightly, a thin line of blood trailing down to his chin._

"_I- I'd do it- again." He managed quietly, his legs giving out from under him. As he fell toward the ground I did, too, catching him before he hit the hard, unforgiving stone. "Do me a-a fa-favor, okay?" He reached up his hand and touched my cheek. I instantly clung to it, waiting intently for the request. "Make it out of here alive. Go- go see those- hosts you're a- always going on about."_

"_That's quiter talk, Hana." I said, closing my eyes and holding his hand close. "Hang in there, please. I'll go get Kai-Chan and she can heal you."_

"_No time..." He said weakly, his hand trying to slip away from mine, but I refused to let it fall. My eyes snapped open just in time to witness his warm, light brown orbs slowly flutter closed. "Win... For me..."_

My hand clenched into a fist. One of his requests had already been fulfilled: that was the battle that ended it all. The battle after which Kai had given me the ring and revealed what Hana couldn't do himself. She told me that he had intended to give it to me after the final battle, but she wanted me to wear it to always remember him by.

"We'll be landing in Boston in five minutes." The pilot announced over the intercom. One glance out the window, then to the letter, and, at last, the ring. My eyes slipped closed for the remaining five minutes as I prepared myself for what was to come.

I gave a sigh of defeat as I plopped down on a bench near a bus stop. Did I honestly believe it would be so easy to find seven people in a huge city like Boston? Burying my face in my hands, I let out another sigh.

People passed by, some were in groups and others alone. They were all ignoring me. They just kept going as if they didn't even see me. Decisively, I searched through my bag for that photo I'd looked at for the last two years. The goal I'd been working towards. Being able to see them again.

"Excuse me!" I stood insistently in front of the first person I saw, refusing to be ignored any longer. "Have you seen these people? They're exchange students from Japan-" The lady shook her head and left without a word.

"Have you seen these people?" I followed another person, holding up the photo. "Tamaki and Haruhi?" He shook his head and walked faster. I turned to the next person. "Kyoya and Honey and Mori?" He didn't even look up at me, so I turned to someone else, the desperation growing in my voice as I asked, "The Hitachiin brothers, Hikaru and Kaoru? Have you seen them?" She waved her hands no, seeming more regretful than all the others. I stopped walking, felling hopeless all over again. I cried out helplessly, "Has anyone seen Tamaki Suoh?!"

A girl near by me stopped walking, looking at me with a confused expression. "Are you a friend of Tamaki's?"

I could see my face light up in her eyes. "Yes!" There was relief in my voice. "Can you tell me where to find him."

She gave me a sweet smile. "I don't know where he lives, but his girlfriend is usually in the library on the next street over. Do you also know Haruhi Fujioka?"

"They're dating now?!" I gaped at the girl. "Yes, I'm very fond of all the exchange students, but I haven't seen them in nearly two years." I laughed softly, almost to myself. "I wonder what else has changed." Returning my attention to the girl, I bowed to her. "Thank you!"

Along the way, I scanned the streets in search of even one familiar face as I sprinted along the sidewalk. Not looking where I was going, I ended up running into someone. We both fell to the ground. I winced, holding my head which had made contact with his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, sir. Are you okay?" I rose to my feet and looked up to see him- also on his feet- gaping at me. His bright purple eyes were wide, and his golden blonde hair slightly displaced from the fall. I didn't want to believe my eyes, but the silver key around his neck confirmed what I was seeing.

"Miyuki, is that-"

"Niichan!" I cried, springing into Tamaki's arms with a bright smile on my face. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"You're alive!" He held me tightly, as if holding on to a dream. "We all thought we'd never see you again."

We held each other close for a long time, not bothered by the people witnessing out embrace, because they were pretending not to see us anyway. He held me at arms length and looked me over, from my messy hair to my tattered clothes, and gave me the biggest smile I'd ever seen on him."You've become so grown up. It's like looking at a picture of your mother."

"You've hardly changed at all." I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the silver key. "I can't believe you kept this all this time."

He grabbed my wrist suddenly, pulling me along down the street. "You have to come see everyone!" They'll be so excited to see you alive and well."

"How are they all doing?" I questioned, keeping pace with his swift walking.

With a smile and wink, he responded coyly, "Just wait and see for yourself."

The place he led me to was a rather plain apartment building a few stories high. The neighborhood seemed nice and quiet. Tamaki didn't give me much time to admire the simple home, though. He dragged me swiftly up a few slights of stairs and then stopped outside the door.

Both of us were a little short on breath. "Wait here a moment while I make sure everyone is here." So he disappeared inside as I waited outside, trying to make myself look presentable.

"Great! Everyone is here." I heard the blonde's voice on the other side of the door. "We have a very special visitor!" The door knob turned and he threw open the door.

All eyes were on me, varied levels of shock appearing on all of the hosts' faces. I took each one of them in with nervous eyes, holding my breath for some odd reason. I noticed that, on the surface, very little had changed aside from Hikaru's hair. Same old Host Club, just in a new location.

Honey was the first to make a move, which was springing into my open arms with teary eyes. "Miyu-Chan, you're alright!" He cried. Mori placed a hand on my shoulder in silent greeting, a slight smile playing at his lips.

Haruhi was next to recover from her shock, a warm smile breaking across her face. "I can't believe you're really here."

"It's so amazing to see you all again!" I chimed, an honesty to my voice that even I hadn't heard in a long, long time. It felt like I was home. Carefully placing Honey down, I set my sights on the shadow king with a teasing smile. "Cool and collected as always, Kyoya-Senpai." I walked slowly over to him, the teasing smirk replaced by a more sincere one. "Are you too cool to give your sister-in-law a hug?" I didn't wait for permission before wrapping my arms around him, hugging him close in an attempt to prove to myself that he was indeed real. "Because I seriously can't believe I'm here."

After a short moment of hesitation, he felt the older teen hug me back- much to my surprise, might I add. "Neither can I." He stated quietly, sounding as if he had genuinely missed me. Once he released me, I turned to face the Hitachiin boys.

"You dyed your hair." I stated obviously, strolling over and gently brushing a strand of it off his face. "I think it looks really nice. Suites you very well."

He rubbed the back of his head, laughing quietly. "Yeah, we figured it was time to make it a little easier to tell us apart. So much has happened since you left!" His face was lit up, but I didn't miss the slightest trace of disappointment in his eyes as he started, "Tamaki and Haruhi are-"

"Dating now." I cut in with a smug smirk. "I heard."

"We have so much more to catch you up on." Tamaki said excitedly, having moved next to me during the exchange. "And I'm sure the same goes for you."

"You have no idea." He replied in exasperation, tracing the ring with my pointer finger out of habit.

I stopped paying attention to the conversation after that, my attention being held by the younger twin's eyes. Absolutely nothing had changed about them, I realized this as they stared into mine, their uncertainty mirroring my own. That last conversation... Did any of it still matter; still apply?

Noticing our staring, Hikaru and Tamaki exchanged a glace, both of them chuckling quietly as they gently pushed us together. I'd have to remember to thank them later. We fell into each other, embracing instinctively, though it only lasted for a brief moment. He held me at arm's length, a serious look to his golden eyes. "I really missed you, Miyuki."

"I missed you, too." I admitted shyly, turning back to the rest of them with a light blush on my cheeks. "All of you. More than you could possibly know."

"I assume since you're here that your mission was a success?" Kyoya pushed his glasses up on his nose, leveling his curious gaze with mine.

There was a long pause before I finally gave a solemn nod. "There were a few casualties, but, considering the extent of the mission, all went better than expected."

Tamaki spoke up first, breaking the silence that followed my report. "Well, you must be tired from your little adventure."

"That's one way of putting it." I muttered, seeing the faces of all of my fallen comrades flash though my mind.

"Would you like us to show you to your room?"

The question brought me back to the present, my eyes flickering to his in shock. "Someone like me? You'd still let me stay?"

"We're a family." Hikaru pointed out, reciting what I had told him ages ago. "We need to look out for each other."

My tear-filled eyes fell to the ground as I bit my lip to keep them from escaping. "You're right, Hikaru." I managed, failing in my attempt at not crying as a single tear slid down my cheek.

"Why are you crying, Miyu-Chan?" Honey demanded innocently of me.

I looked into his eyes, smiling in spite of the tears. "I'm just really happy to be home, Honey-Senpai."

"Come on, princess." Tamaki took my hand gently, leading me off down the hall. "You need to rest."

"Okay..." I paused for a moment, glancing around at each one of their faces before following loyally after my replacement brother.

XxXxXx

There was a tentative knock at the door, the person trying not to wake me in case I had already fallen asleep. "Come in." I called, sitting up and flipping on the lamp next to the bed. Hikaru entered with a sense of hesitation. "What can I do for you?" I questioned, suppressing a yawn.

He came and sat down next to me, his eyes fixed on my hand. "I was wondering about your ring." He stated bluntly.

I turned my eyes to the item in question as well, felling the familiar pang of guilt run through me. "Hana's sister gave it to me. She said he was going to do it himself after the final battle..." Pain laced my tone as clear as day. "He didn't make it, though..." A sad smile crossed my lips.

"What would you have said?" I remained silent at the question, so he asked again, wording it differently, prompting me to respond. "Would you have accepted his offer?"

After a long, painful silence, I finally responded, "No... I would not have..."

"Why?" He demanded, an undertone of begging and desperation in his voice.

"Because I didn't love him." I explained, finally looking up into the familiar golden-brown eyes. "I wouldn't marry someone I didn't love."

A tiny smile spread across his face as he revealed his true reason for disturbing me. "Kaoru is waiting outside. He'd like to speak with you."

"Got it." I said, jumping out of bed a little too eagerly.

I descended slowly to the ground level, then out to the sidewalk where Hikaru had told me to go. Kaoru waited for me just a little ways down the street. I took my time walking over, going slightly past him before I stopped. There was a long moment of silence as my heart raced. I had no clue what to say, but he wasn't talking.

"S-so how have you been?" I questioned, completely aware of the slight tremor in my voice. "It's been a few years, huh?" I waited, but he kept silent. The lack of sound made me grow increasingly uncomfortable. I turned to him with a forced smile and started talking again. "Hikaru dyed his hair. It looks really nice. Must be a lot easier to tell the two of you apart now."

His expression was unreadable as he continued to do nothing but blink at me in silence. "I don't know why you're not talking..." I admitted quietly, shifting my gaze to the ground as the smile faded from my face. "I thought you'd be happy to see me, but you don't seem happy at all." Still no reply. I looked up at him again, shouting, "Say something already!" But still he said nothing. The burst of anger vanished as quickly as it had come as I found myself not knowing what else to do. So I turned to walk away with a mumbled, "I guess I'll just go then..."

With two long strides, he covered the distance between us and grabbed my wrist, turning me back around to face him. With on hand intertwined with mine and the other on the back of my neck he whispered quietly, "Do you really think I'm about to watch you walk away again?" Then he drew my lips to his, kissing me softly, slowly. I found myself startled by how suddenly it had all happened.

That was actually my first kiss. Was that sad? I would never admit it, but I was kind of glad it was with Kaoru. He was the first boy I had ever loved- aside from my brothers and father of course. I was someone who was very good at controlling my emotions, but whatever it was that I was feeling at that moment was so new to me that I had no clue how to react to it. My heart was still pounding in my chest even after he pulled away. Slowly, I opened my eyes, finding his face closer than I had expected. I'm pretty sure my cheeks were burning up.

His face grew very serious as he spoke up at last. "When you walked away that day, it broke my heart. Every day I kept it together because I just kept thinking that one day you would be back. After about a year and a half, that hope faded." He closed his eyes as he said this, guilt ringing in every word he said. "I gave up on ever being able to see you again. And now that you're here, I have no clue what to say to you. All that I can do is say I'm sorry..." He reopened his eyes, meeting mine with a determined look. "I'm sorry I gave up on you."

I considered what he had told me very carefully, never once taking my eyes off of his as I pondered what the correct response should be. Finally, I smiled softly, touching his cheek with my free hand. "There were times when I was gone that I questioned what I was doing; questioned if it was right or not. And there were a lot of times when I gave up on me, too. I'm just glad that I could prove us both wrong."

I heard some indistinguishable whispers coming from the apartment building and tensed up slightly before I realized who it was. Letting my hand fall back to my side, I snickered softly. Kaoru arched an eyebrow at me. "What is it?" He hadn't heard them.

I tilted my head to the side, an amused smirk on my face. "They're spying on us." I informed him, watching shock and embarrassment flash across his face.

"Wh-what?!" He stuttered, pulling away from me. He turned around with his hands over his face. "Darn it, I should have known!"

I watched him pace back and forth in a tiny space, trying not to laugh at him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I said, "Maybe it's better that they're watching." He stopped pacing, giving me a confused look. "You would have told Hikaru what happened later anyway. And he would have told everyone else. If you think about it, it's kind of easier this way."

He looked intently over my shoulder as my eyes flickered back and forth between his and the window I had noticed the Hosts shifting in. Decisively, he took my hand in his again and put his mouth to my ear, whispering quietly, "You want to go somewhere they can't see us?"

I didn't have to think about that question for too long. Although I was sure the others would have heard about the kiss eventually, it would be nice to have some memories that stayed just between the two of us. "What do you have in mind?"

He pulled back slightly so that I could see the mischievous look in his eyes as he questioned, "How does a walk in the park sound?" Before waiting for an answer, he took off down the street with me in tow, startled by how little warning he had given.

Together, we ran down about three blocks before I could see the park. "It's kind of closed." He panted softly, looking back at me with a look of excitement in his eyes. "You up for jumping a fence?"

I snickered softly. "The real question is whether you can keep up or not." We neared the fence, his hand leaving mine so that we could climb easier. In a single jump, I leaped up and grabbed the top, pausing for a moment before propelling myself over the top. So what if I was showing off just a little? Sticking the landing, I turned to see Kaoru sitting on top of the fence snickering at me in a non-mocking kind of way.

"Show off." He teased, and he hopped down. Then he took my hand again, and we strolled through the park. After a while of wandering through the park in blissful silence, he stopped walking, causing me to follow in suite. He took a seat in the soft green grass, pulling me down on his lap. Then he laid us both back in the grass. We watched the stars with intrigue.

"I can't believe you held on to that jacket all this time." He mused, running his hand along the not-so-soft fabric of the sleeve. "How did something so torn up and old even keep you warm.

I gave a soft laugh, nuzzling closer to him. "It's not the jacket that kept me warm; it's the memories that it holds." I closed my eyes with a nostalgic sigh.

Not knowing how to respond, he simply held me closer with a mumbled, "I'm really glad that you came home."

I didn't respond to this, because I had actually drifted off into a peaceful sleep. I would never have admitted it if anyone had asked, but after all the events of that day, I was beyond exhausted.

Have you ever had those night when you were a kid that you'd fall asleep on the couch and magically wake up in your bed? That's what happened to me that night. When morning rolled around, and the warm sun caused my eyes to flutter open, I was enveloped in the warmth of a blanket.

I sat up with a moan of protest, never having been known to be much of a morning person. New clothes were laid out at the end of the bed, which I changed into lazily. Voices could be heard from the kitchen, as well as the smell of cooking food. I followed it, still in a slightly sleepy daze.

"Looks like our sleepy little princess is awake at last." Tamaki greeted me playfully, earning a small, tired laugh from me.

"Morning." I hummed, rubbing my eyes and yawning slightly.

Everyone mumbled replies with varied levels of enthusiasm.

"We were thinking," The twins pipped up from where they sat, "today, we should go shopping and get you some new clothes you can wear-"

"That won't really be necessary." I said with a grateful smile. "I can't really stay too long.

"You just got here." Haruhi pointed out, frowning slightly.

"I know, I know." I said soothingly, "But my village needs me home eventually." I explained patiently. "After my success in that extremely difficult mission, I've become kind of an important person. Lord Hokage promoted me to the same rank as Sho-Senpai: ANBU captain."

Confusion flashed through their eyes at the unfamiliar words, but I decided it wasn't worth explaining. "Are you going to visit again soon, Miyu-Chan?" Honey questioned with a pair of puppy-dog eyes that almost made me say yes without even thinking.

"I can't promise any specific date, since my schedule will be pretty messy, but I'll try to visit again before you guys go back to Japan. Deal?" It was the best I could do, assuming I was still alive to live up to my word. They responded, once again, with different levels of approval. "Thank you all for having me. And it was wonderful to see you all again." I recited the customary good bye as I picked up my bag from near the door, the hosts following close behind. "Take care of yourselves, and I hope to be back again soon."

I turned to take them all one by one with a soft smile on my lips. "And don't forget: this isn't good bye." I gave the twins a wink, the two of them joining me as I finished, "It's just see you later."

**A/N: **This has certainly been a fun adventure. I just want to take this moment to thank you all for reading. It's because of your support that I was able to finish this. Very specifically, I'd like to thank my best friend/ sister Laura and Facebook Tamaki/ Sean-Senpai for all the support. Make sure you stay tuned; there may be a sequel in the works. *hint hint nudge nudge* Feel free to leave a review! I'd love to hear from you all.

_~waybackwhen_


End file.
